


^Q^^vu^O^,^ 






'yy%i/^^'j^^ 



^Ww^w'^^"^ 









m^gs^^smMStn^MS^SM^M 






w^^y: 



^',j'^o^'y^^ 












36'''ebL;ivWi''«w'--- «»§»; 






|LIBMRY OF CONGRESS J 

! # 

^ [SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] ^ 

« ^e-%^ ^ 



^U^'W 



VWW\jl 



I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.^ 



®ywQ|yy 

yVWWWi'^b'5 


^B 


' < '■■■ ^ ■ . i^vyi ; 



^^^W'o^O 



y^^^vyy^ 



^^yy^vHyw 






«»teffiS 






m^^:z:y^^^^'^mmmkt^^j^^' 



^^^^^^Uvww-..^, 



lUwU VWjM&^H- 



vKj;^5w^^^wwg.gvvwj 



'wvv;yo,^v<'w 



WKHS, 









'^^^^"^ 



^^^i^^' 



Vu^l A. 



'VU JUUUU I, ,^UW „ :i ;U.- ;Ww, /,7^V vv'.^' - 1 _ ■.,. - ,.„■ V .^ :^- - , ..,,-;.• . 



^m 



wwWJ 






■■yWWv:J'»^W'^b;s:.;v.v 



\^««l ^ 



fcs5f^*®£^:#w^^^vvto«' 



.^^*«eee;;^^^.. 



wv^W^' 



'v^S'^ 









w««^^«bby^, 



:«,:*,y^a©,m- 






■^^^ 



'uWUgljC 



^ygwU 



^vw^y^^w^ugwgwa' 



,-vwv^W^''''^-wW'^'* 









*m^««^ft,to^ 



Lieut. Eyre's Narrative — Cheap Edition. 



PRICE 25 CENTS. 



THE 

MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL, 



WHICH ENDED IN THE 



DESTRUCTION OF THE BRITISH ARMY, JANUARY, 1842: 



WITH A 



i^Sottrnjil of KmiJrisonwtnt in '^ft&^^xiiui^n. 



BY LIEUT. VINCENT EYRE. 



FROM THE FOURTH LONDON EDITION. 



"I will ask you to read the Narrative of Lieut. Eyre, and remind you of the description there given of the 
greatest disaster itiat ever befel a British army." — Sir Robert Peel, in the House of Commons. 

"This is the first voice that has reached us from the late prisoners at Cabul— the first clear and consistent ac- 
count of the disasters that overwhelmed a British army, and brought disgrace on the British name." — Athenaum. 



COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 

Price 25 Cents. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
CAREY AND HART. 

BOSTON: 

REDDING & Co., No. 8 State Street: 

And for Sale by all Booksellers and News Agents in the United States. 

1843. 



This No. contains Z printed sheets — Postage 5 cents; over 100 miles 9 cents. 



CHEAP 


READING. 


MACAULAY'S MISCELLANIES COMPLETE IN 4 VOLS. 

'V 




FOR 



OHE DOLLAR . 



NOW READY. 
VOLU2MCI: 1, FB.XC:S 25 CEXffSS, 

O F 
OF 

T. BABIUGTON IVEACAUIiAV. 

Therery high commendation bestowed by the press knd the community upon the American Edition of 

has induced the publishers to issue a new and very cheap edition, embracing all his articles, 
printed from the following list furnished by himself, 

VIZ: 

Milton, Machiavelli, Dryden, History, Hallam's Constitutional History, Southey's CoLLoaviES on Society, 
Moore's Life op Byron, Southey's Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Croker's Boswell's Life op Johnson, Lord 
Nugent's Memoirs op Hampden, Nare's Memoirs op Lord Burghley, Dumont's Recollections op Mirabeau,Lord 
Mahon's War op The Succession, Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann, Thackaray's History op Earl Chatham, 
Lord Ba^con, Mackintosh's History of the Revolution op England, Sir John Malcolm's Life op Lord Clive, 
Life and Writings of Sir "W. Temple, Church and State, Ranke's History op the Popes, Cowley and Milton, 
Mitford's History of Greece, The Athenian Orators, "Warren Hastings, Lord Holland, The Comic Drama- 
tists of the Bestoration, Frederic the Great, and Lays of Ancient Rome. 

His writings have been universally admired, both in England and America, for their vivid elo- 
quence, extensive learning, and splendour of illustration: and the Publishers 
have reason to believe that a cheap edition will be received 
with favour by the Amerlcaa public. 

TERMS OF PUBLICATION. 
This work will be printed on good paper, and will be supplied weekly 

JLT 26 CSITTS A VOZiViyZE 
And the entire TTorli Tvill be completed in 

Thus furnishing all Mb. Macadlat's Writings, heretofore sold at Five Dollars, 

P021 0H:E3I)0LLAK». 

CAREY AND HART PUBLISHERS. 

Philadelphia, March 1843. 

[ET A remittance of $5 will pay for Six Copies, or $10 for Thirteen Copies. 



L. 



THE 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL, 



WHICH ENDED IN THE 



RETREAT AND DESTRUCTION OF THE BRITISH ARMY, 



JATJUARY 1842. 



WITH A JOURNAL OF 



IMPEISONMENT IN APFGHANISTAN. 



y^C^ BY ^ 

LIEUT. VINCENT EYRE, 

BSNOAL ARTILLERY, LATE DEPUTY COMMISSARY OF ORDNANCE AT CABUL, 



Ti- 



^i>Pt ^ PHILADELPHIA: 

CAREY AND HART. 

1848. 






C, SHSRMAN, PRINTER. 



NOTES 



OP 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL, 



ETC. 



NOTICE BY THE EDITOR. 

The original manuscript of this Journal was 
sent by Lieutenant Eyre ia parts, as it was 
finished, and as opportunity offered, to a mili- 
tary friend in India. Even when the last part 
reached his hands, the eventual liberation of 
the Cabul prisoners was a matter of painful 
uncertainty ; and his judgment prompted him 
to transmit it entire, and without comment, to 
the Author's immediate relations in this coun- 
try. There is a point connected with its publi- 
cation now, which must not be thought to have 
been disregarded from any anxiety that this ac- 
count should be the first : — it is, the question 
whether it should have been withheld until the 
result of the inquiry now pending in India 
should be known. It is considered that sufficient 
delay has been already incurred to insure this 
end, and that all such investigations will have 
been closed before a copy of this book can find 
its way to India. The Journal is therefore at 
once printed as it came, in concurrence with 
the writer's own idea that it cannot fail to in- 
terest the British public. E. Eyre. 

Athenseum Club, Dec. 29, 1842. 



Note by the Editor. — I have received 
information from very high authority, which 
makes it incumbent on me, in candour, to ap- 
pend this note to a second edition; and I am 
sorry it was not in time to appear also in the 
first. I flatter myself that the general tone of 
this work will prove sufficiently that any sup- 
posed misstatement therein will have been made 
most unintentionally, and on authority which 
must have appeared to the Author very sufficient. 
In his absence I cannot do less than append the 
following observations, which are furnished me 
to qualify the passages of the text alluded to : 

P. 5. With reference to the alleged neglect to 
send a force against the Nijrow chiefs, I am 
assured that the Envoy pressed this measure 
upon the General, but he refused the troops. 



P. 8. I am assured that Lord Auckland never 
knew, until after the insurrection, that the 
pay of the Giljyes had been stopped, and that 
the measure originated with the Envoy. 

P. 10. Lastly, I am authorized to say that it is not 
correctly stated that Lord Auckland did not 
receive General Elphinstone's resignation .as 
soon as the General wished : that the General 
joined the force in April ; and in September, 
Lord Auckland received his medical certifi- 
cate, and wrote to him by the first mail to beg 
of him to give up the command to the next 
in order, until a successor could be found. 

While readily giving insertion to any coun- 
ter-statements so conveyed to me as to guarantee 
their accuracy, I must be allowed, on my bro- 
ther's part, to express an opinion that, being on 
terms of intimate friendship with General El- 
phinstone, he must have had no less authority 
than the General's information for making at 
least that statement last referred to : but I am 
sure he would regret to be the means of propa- 
gating any thing not strictly true, from whatever 
source derived. E. Eyre. 



PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. 

The following notes were penned to relieve 
the monotony of an Afl^ghan prison, while yet 
the events which they record continued fresh 
in my memory. I now give them publicity in 
the belief that the information which they con- 
tain on the dreadful scenes lately enacted in 
Aftghanistan, though clothed in a homely garb, 
will scarcely fail to be acceptable to many of 
my countrymen, both in India and England, who 
may be ignorant of the chief particulars. The 
time, from the 2d November, 1841, on which 
day the sudden popular outbreak at Cabul took 
place, to the 13tli January, 1842, which wit- 
nessed the annihilation of the last small rem- 
nant of our unhappy force at Gundamuk, was 
one continued tragedy. The massacre of Sir 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



Alexander Burnes and his associates, — the loss 
of our commissariat fort, — the defeat of our 
troops under Brigadier Shelton at Beymaroo, — 
the treacherous assassination of Sir William 
Macnaghten, our envoy and minister, — and last- 
ly, the disastrous retreat and utter destruction* 
of a force consisting of 5000 fighting men and 
upwards of 12,000 camp-followers, — are events 
which will assuredly rouse the British Lion from 
his repose, and excite an indignant spirit of in- 
quiry in every breast. Men will not be satis- 
tied, in this case, with a bare statement of the 
facts, but they will doubtless require to be made 
acquainted with the causes which brought about 
such awful effects. We have lost six entire 
regiments of infantry, three companies of sap- 
pers, a troop of European horse artillery, half 
the mountain-train battery, nearly a whole re- 
giment of regular cavalry, and four squadrons 
of irregular horse, besides a well-stocked maga- 
zine, which alone, taking into consideration the 
cost of transport up to Cabul, may be estimated 
at nearly a million sterling. Erom first to last, 
more than 100 British officers have fallen : their 
names will be found in the Appendix. I glance 
but slightly at the political events of this period, 
not having been one of the initiated ; and I do 
not pretend to enter into minute particulars 
with regard to even our military transactions, 
more especially those not immediately connected 
with the sad catastrophe which it has been my 
ill-fortune to witness, and whereof I now en- 
deavour to pourtray the leading features. In 
these notes I have been careful to state only 
what I know to be undeniable facts. I have set 
down nothing on mere hearsay evidence, nor 
any thing which cannot be attested by living 
witnesses, or by existing documentary evidence. 
In treating of matters which occurred under 
my personal observation, it has been difficult to 
avoid altogether the occasional expression of 
my own individual opinion : but I hope it will 
foe found that I have made no observations bear- 
ing hard on men or measures, that are either 
uncalled for, or will not stand the test of future 
investigation. To Major Pottinger, C. B., the 
well-known hero of Herat, whose subsequent 
acts have amply sustained the fame which he 
there acquired, 1 am much indebted for a great 
deal of interesting matter relative to the events 
at Charekar. To Captain Colin Mackenzie of 
the Madras army, political assistant at Peshawur, 
my obligations are greater than I can express, 
for his most valuable aid in the preparation of 
these notes, as well as for his excellent account 
of the attack on Brigadier Anquetil's fort, and 
the sad detail of the Envoy's cruel murder, and 

* In the late accounts from Gen. Pollock's army 
at Cabul, it is stated that the number of skeletons 
found on the line of march was very small com- 
pared with the thousands which had been reported 
and believed to have perished. But too few have 
as yet made their appearance to require that the 
above statement should be qualified. The reader 
who continues to the end will have little hope that 
it can ever prove very incorrect. — Editor. 



the circumstances therewith connected. To 
Captain Lawrence, late military Secretary to 
the Envoy, and to Captain Troup, late Brigade- 
Major to the Shah's force, I am likewise bound 
to offer my best acknowledgments for much im- 
portant information. 

The following list of words used in this 
volume, with their meanings, may be useful to 
the English reader.* 

* GLOSSARY. 
Ahukzye, or Aichakzye, the name of one of the 

great AfFghan tribes. 
Ameer, commander or chief; title assumed by 

Dost Mahomed Khan. 
Atta, ground wheat. 
Ayah, a nurse. 

Bala Hissar, royal citadel, upper citadel. 
Barukzye, name of one of the five great Ddrdni or 

Dooranee tribes, 
Bourge, tower. 

Buniah, a trader, generally in grain. 
Cajila, a convoy. 
Char Chouk, public bazar. Chahda, or char, means 

house, the bazar being introduced at right angles 

in the centre. 
Chouk, bazar. 
Chuprassie, a servant bearing a badge or brass 

plate. 
Chuppao, a night surprise, or plundering attack. 
Cossid, a messenger. 
Debashee. Query whether this is an Indian or 

Kabul term. Bashe means principal, as Kafila 

Bashe, the principal of the convoy, &c. 
Dewan JDaneh, hall of audience. 
Doohlie, palanquin for carrying sick. 
Dooranee, name of five great tribes, the Popul-zai, 

Barak-zai, Niir-zai, Barmi-zai, and Abkhu-zai. 
Ensofzyes, an AfFghan tribe holding the territory 

north of PeshcLwur. 
Feringhee, European. 
Ghazee, champion of I'eligion, 
Giljye, name of a great Affghan tribe. 
Godoivn, storehouse. 
Goorkha, a native of NepS,!. 
Havildar, a sergeant. 
Hazirbash means " Be present." 
Hurwah (uncertain). 
Janbaz, AfFghan horse. 
Jeergha, council. 
Jemandar, a native officer. 
Juzail, long rifle. 
Juzailchce, rifleman. 
Kajir, infidel. 
Khan, nobleman : the title in Kabul is assumed by 

every one, even the lowest. 
Kirkhee, a wicket, window. 
Kujawur, a pannier carried on camels. 
Kuzzilbash, descendant of the Persians, wearing a 

red cap. 
Lascar, Indian term, an attendant on guns, maga- 
zines, &c. 
B'laund (of grain), 801b. weight. 
Meerza, an appellation generally given to Mahome- 

dan writers. 
Meer Wyse ( The) means a teacher ; generally con- 
ferred on some one eminent for sanctity. 
Mehmandar, a man of all work; one who has 

charge of receiving guests, visiters, &.c. 
Moollah, priest. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



INTRODUgTORY CHAPTER. 

Internal state of AfFghanistan in 1841. Disaffection — 
especially in Kohistan, and military operations 
there. March of General Sale for JeJlalabad, who 
has to fight his way. Earlier premonitory symp- 
toms of disturbance. 

When Major-Gen. Elphinstone assumed the 
command of the troops in Affghanistan in April, 
1841, the country enjoyed a state of apparent 
tranquillity to which it had for many years been 
a stranger. This remark applies more particu-' 
larly to those provinces which lie northeast of 
Ghuzneo, comprehending Cabul proper, Kohis- 
tan; Jellalabad, and the neighbouring districts. 
The Giljye tribes, occupying a large portion of 
the country between Ghuznee and Candahar, 
had never been properly subdued, and the per- 
manent occupation of Khelat-i-Giljye by our 
troops had so alarmed their jealous love of inde- 
pendence, as to cause, during the months of 
July and August, a partial rising of the tribes, 
which, however, the valour of our Hindoostanee 
troops, under Colonel Wymer, at Huft-aseer, 
and of the 5th Bengal Cavalry under Col. Cham- 
bers at Mookoor, speedily suppressed. Some of 
the principal chiefs delivered themselves up as 
hostages, and quiet was restored. To the west 
of Candahar, a notorious freebooter, named 
Akter Khan, having collected about 7000 fol- 
lowers, horse and foot, was signally defeated 
near Girhisk, on the banks of the Heermund, in 
the month of July, by a detachment of the Shah's 
regular troops under Capt. Woodburn, consist- 
ing of only one infantry regiment, two H. A. 
guns, under Lieut. Cooper, besides two regi- 
ments of Janhaz, or Affghan horse : the latter, 
however, behaved ill, and can hardly be said to 
have shared in the glory of the unequal conflict. 
Capt. GrifBn, with the Bengal 2d Native Infan- 
try, was, a few days after, equally successful in 
an sfttack on the enemy in the same quarter. 
Akter Khan fled to the hills with a few follow- 
ers, and the land again enjoyed repose. Kohis- 



Moonshee, interpreter or secretary. 

Musjeed, a temple, place of worship. 

Naih, deputy. 

Nalkee, a sort of palanquin. 

Nazir, steward. 

NeencJia, coat. 

Nuwab, prince. 

Pilao, a dish of fowl with rice, &.c. 

Postheen, a sheepskin cloak. 

Rajah, prince, an Indian term. 

Ressala, a troop. 

Sepoy, soldier, an Indian term ; always native sol- 
dier. 

S/iafi bagh, king's garden. 

Shroff', a native banker. 

Sirdar, a cliief. 

Suhschoon, or Shub-khoon (the proper term), night 
surprise. 

Sunga, stone breastwork. 

Surwon, a man who takes care of camels. 

Syud, a priest. 

Wuzeer, vizier. 

Yaboo, Affghan pony. 

Zuna, dwelling ; (Kuneh) private dwelling. 



tan, whose wild and turbulent chiefs had stur- 
dily maintained their independence against the 
late ruler. Dost Mahommed Khan, seemed at 
last to have settled down into a state of quiet, 
though unwilling, subjection to Shah Shoojah. 
The Nijrow chiefs formed an almost solitary ex- 
ception to this show of outward submission; and 
Sir William Macnaghten had strongly urged 
upon Lord Auckland, at an early period of the 
year, the expediency of sending a force into that 
country as soon as practicable. Since our first 
occupation of Cabul, Nijrow had become a resort 
for all such restless and discontented characters 
as had rendered themselves obnoxious to the 
existing governmynt. The fact of our having 
permitted them so long to brave us with impu- 
nity, had doubtless been regarded by the secret 
enemies of the new rule as a mark of conscious 
weakness, and may have encouraged them, in 
no slight degree, to hatch those treasonable 
designs against the state which were so sud- 
denly developed in November, 1841, and which 
were for the time, unhappily, but too successful.* 

Major Pottinger, having been appointed politi- 
cal agent in Kohistan, arrived from Calcutta in 
May, 1841, and was one of the first to prognos- 
ticate the coming storm. He lost no time in 
representing to the Envoy the insufficiency of 
our military force in Kohistan, consisting at that 
time of merely two six-pounder guns, and the 
Kohistanee regiment raised by Lieut. Maule of 
the Bengal Artillery; which excellent young 
officer was, on the first outbreak of the rebellion, 
cruelly butchered by his own men, or, which is 
the same thing, with their consent. This regi- 
ment was stationed at Charekar, a post of no 
strength, and ill adapted for making a protracted 
defence, as was afterwards proved. The Major 
was, however, considered in the light of an 
alarmist, and he only succeeded in procuring a 
few Hazirbash horsemen and a seventeen-poun- 
der gun, with a small detachment of the Shah's 
artillery, and a very scanty supply of ammuni- 
tion. 

About the end of September, Major Pottinger 
came to Cabul for the purpose of impresvsing on 
the Envoy that, unless strong measures of pre- 
vention were speedily adopted, he considered a 
rise in Kohistan as in the highest degree proba- 
ble. His apprehensions were considered by the 
Envoy as not altogether unfounded, and he w^as 
empowered to retain as hostages the sons of the 
leading chiefs, whose fidelity he suspected. The 
first interruption to the state of outward tran- 
quillity, which I have described above, occurred 
early in September. Capt. Hay, in command of 
some Hazirbashes, and Lieut. Maule, with his 
Kohistanee regiment, (which had been relieved 
at Charekar by the Goorkah, or 4th regiment, the 
Shah's subsidized force officered from the line, 
under Capt. Codrington,) and two six-pounder 
guns, had been sent into the Zoormut valley to 
collect the annual revenue, with orders like- 
wise to make an attempt to seize certain noted 



* The reader is particularly referred to a Note 
BY THE Editor, on our first page. 



6 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



plunderers, among- whom were some of the 
murderers of Col. Herring, who had long infested 
the road between Ghuznee and Cabul. The 
revenue was in the course of being quietly paid, 
when Capt. Hay was mischievously informed by 
Moollah Momin, collector of revenue in Zoor- 
mut (who shortly after distinguished himself as 
one of our bitterest foes), that the men whom he 
wished to seize, were harboured in a certain 
neighbouring fort of no strength whatever, and 
that the inhabitants would doubtless give them 
up rather than risk a rupture with the govern- 
ment. Capt. Hay immediately proceeded thi- 
ther, but found the place much stronger than 
he had been led to expect, and the people obsti- 
nately prepared to resist his demands. On 
approaching the fort, he was fired upon ; and 
finding the six-pounder shot, of which he gave 
a few rounds in return, made no impression on 
the mud walls, he had no alternative but to 
retreat. 

The Envoy, on receiving Capt. Hay's report, 
immediately despatched a sufficient force to 
punish the rebels. It consisted of 200 of H. M. 
44th Inf , 5th N. I., 6th regt. S. S. F., 4 guns of 
Abbot's battery, 2 iron nine-pounders mountain 
train, 2 comp. Shah's Sappers, and 2 squadrons 
of Anderson's horse. These were under the 
command of Lieut. -Col. Oliver, and were accom- 
panied by Capt. G. H. Macgregor, the political 
agent at Gundamuck, who happened to be then 
at Cabul on business. The force commenced 
its march on the 27th September, and reached 
the Zoormut valley without the slightest inter- 
ruption. On the approach of our troops the 
rebels had fled to the hills in the greatest con- 
sternation, leaving their forts at our mercy. 
The principal strongholds were destroyed with 
powder, and the /force prepared to return to 
Cabul. 

Meanwhile the'hydra of rebellion had reared 
its head in another far more formidable quarter. 
Early in October three Giljye chiefs of note sud- 
denly quitted Cabul, after plundering a rich 
Cafila at Tezeen, and took up a strong position 
in the difficult defile of Khoord-Cabul, about ten 
miles from the capital, thus blocking up the pass, 
and cutting off our communication with Hindo- 
stan. Intelligence had not very long previously 
been received that Mahomed Akber Khan, 
second son of the ex-ruler Dost Mahomed Khan, 
had arrived at Bameean from Khooloom for the 
supposed purpose of carrying on intrigues 
against the government. It is remarkable that 
he is nearly connected by marriage with Ma- 
homed Shah Khan and Dost Mahomed Khan,* 
also Giljyes, who almost immediately joined the 
above-mentioned chiefs. Mahomed Akber had, 
since the deposition of his father, never ceased 
to foster feelings of intense hatred towards the 
English nation ; and, though often urged by the 
fallen ruler to deliver himself up, had resolutely 
preferred the life of a houseless exile to one of 



* This chief must not be confounded with the ex- 
ruler of the same name. 



mean dependence on the bounty of his enemies. 
It seems therefore in the highest degree proba- 
ble that this hostile movement on the part of the 
Eastern Giljyes was the result of his influence 
over them, combined with other causes which 
will be hereafter mentioned. The march of 
Gen. Sale's brigade to their winter quarters at 
Jellalabad, and ultimately to India, had only 
been deferred until the return of the force from 
Zoormut, but was now hastened in consequence 
of this unwelcome news. On the 9th October 
the 35th regt. N. I. under Col. Monteath, C. B., 
100 of the Shah's Sappers under Capt. G. Broad- 
foot, a squadron of the 5th cavalry under Capt. 
Oldfield, and two guns of Capt. Abbot's battery 
under Lieut. Dawes, were sent on in advance 
to the entrance of the pass at Bootkhak, where, 
on the following night, it was attacked by a 
large number of rebels, who taking advantage 
of the high ground and deep ravines in the neigh- 
bourhood of the camp, maintained a sharp fire 
upon it for several hours, by which 35 Sepoys 
were killed and wounded. 

On the morning of the 11th, Gen. Sale 
marched from Cabul with H. M. 13th Lt. Inf. 
to join the camp at Bootkhak, and on the fol- 
lowing morning the whole proceeded to force 
the pass. Intelligence had been received that 
the enemy, besides occupying the heights of this 
truly formidable defile, which in many places 
approach to within fifty yards of each other, 
rising up almost perpendicularly to an elevation 
of 500 or 600 feet, had erected a sunga, or stone 
breastwork, in the narrowest part of the gorge, 
flanked by a strong tower. The advance guard, 
consisting of the Shah's Sappers, a company of 
H. M. 13th foot, another of the 35th N. I., and 
2 guns under Lieut. Dawes, was met about mid- 
way through the pass, which is nearly five miles 
long, by a sharp and continued discharge of 
juzails from the strong posts of the enemy. This 
was returned by our men with precision and 
effect, notwithstanding the disadvantages of 
their situation; flanking parties gallantly strug- 
gled up the height to dislodge the enemy from 
thence, while the Sappers rushed on to destroy 
the above-mentioned breastwork : through this, 
however, the stream which flows down the 
middle of the defile had already forced a pas- 
sage ; and, as the enemy abandoned it, as well 
as the flanking tower, on the approach of our 
troops, Lieut. Dawes passed his guns through 
the interval at full speed, getting them under 
the shelter of a rock beyond the sustained and 
murderous fire of the enemy's juzailchees, it 
being impossible to elevate the guns sufficiently 
to bear upon them. The flankers did their duty 
nobly, and the fight had lasted for about half an 
hour, during which the conduct of the Shah's 
Sappers under Capt, Broadfbot was creditable in 
the highest degree, when the approach of the 
main column under Gen. Sale, who had been 
already shot through the leg, enabled Capt. Sea- 
ton of the 35th regiment, who commanded the 
advance guard, to push on. This he did, running 
the gauntlet to the end of the pass, by which 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



time the enemy, fearful of being taken in rear, 
abandoned their position, and retired towards 
Kubbur-i-Jubbar, on the road to Tezeen. The 
35th regiment, Shah's Sappers, Lieut. Dawes's 
guns, and a party of Hazirbash under Capt. 
Trevor, encamped at Khoord-Cabul, H. M.'s 
13th Lt. Inf returning to Bootkhak. During 
their return, parties who still lurked among the 
rocks fired upon the column, tliereby doing some 
mischief. 

In these positions the divided force remained 
encamped for several days, awaiting the return 
to Cabul of the troops from Zoormut. During 
this time several shub-khoons, or night attacks, 
were made on the two camps, that on the 35th 
regiment at Khoord-Cabul being peculiarly 
disastrous from the treachery of the Affghan 
horse, who admitted the enemy within their 
lines, by which our troops were exposed to a 
fire from the least suspected quarter : many of 
our gallant Sepoys and Lieut. Jenkins thus met 
their death. 

On the 20th October, Gen. Sale moved with 
his force to Khoord-Cabul, having been pre- 
viously joined by the 37th regiment under Major 
Griffiths, Capt. Abbot's guns, the mountain train 
under Capt. Backhouse, 100 of Anderson's irre- 
gular horse under Lieut. Mayne, and the re- 
mainder of the Shah's sappers and miners. 
About the 22d the whole force there assembled, 
with Capt. Macgregor, political agent, marched 
to Tezeen, encountering much determined 
opposition on the road. 

By this time it was too evident that the whole 
of the Eastern Giljyes had risen in one common 
league against us. Their governor, or viceroy, 
Humza Khan, had in the mterval gone forth 
under pretence of bringing back the chiefs to 
their allegiance ; on his return, however, which 
took place nearly at the time at which Gen. 
Sale marched from Khoord-Cabul, the treacher- 
ous nature of his proceedings had been dis- 
covered, and he was placed by the Shah in 
confinement : he was suspected, indeed, before. 
Gen. Sale remained at Tezeen until the 26th 
October. 

It must be remarked that, for some time pre- 
vious to these overt acts of rebellion, the always 
strong and ill-repressed personal dislike of the 
Aflghans towards Europeans had been manifested 
in a more than usually open manner in and about 
Cabul. Officers had been insulted and attempts 
made to assassinate them. Two Europeans had 
been murdered, as also several camp followers; 
but these and other signs of the approaching 
storm had unfortunately been passed over as 
mere ebullitions of .private angry feeling. This 
incredulity and apathy is the more to be lamented, 
as it was pretty well known that on the occasion 
of the shub-khoon, or first night attack on the 
35th N. I. at Bootkhak, a large portion of our 
assailants consisted of the armed retainers of 
the different men of consequence in Cabul itself, 
large parties of whom had been seen proceeding 
from the city to the scene of action on the even- 
ing of the attack, and afterwards returning. 



Although these men had to pass either through 
the heart or round the skirts of our camp at 
Seeah Sung, it was not deemed expedient even 
to question them, far less to detain them. 

On the 26th October, Gen. Sale started in the 
direction of Gundamuck, Capt. Macgregor, poli- 
tical agent, having, during the halt at Tezeen, 
half frightened half cajoled the refractory Giljye 
chiefs into what the sequel proved to have been 
a most hollow truce ; for the term treaty can 
scarcely be applied to any agreement made with 
men so proverbially treacherous, as the whole 
race of Affghans have proved themselves to be, 
from our first knowledge of their existence up 
to the present moment. Of the difficulties expe- 
rienced by Gen. Sale during his march to Gun- 
damuck, and of the necessity which induced 
him subsequently to push on to Jellalabad, the 
public are aware. On the day of his departure 
from Tezeen the 37th N. I., 3 companies of the 
Shah's sappers, under Capt. Walsh, and 3 guns 
of the mountain train, under Lieut. Green, re- 
traced their steps towards Cabul, and encamped 
at Kubbur-i-Jubbar, to wait as an escort to the 
sick and convalescent. The sappers continued 
their march back to Cabul unopposed ; the rest 
remained here unmolested until the 1st Novem- 
ber, when they broke ground for Khoord-Cabul. 
Here, in the afternoon of the 2d, Major Grif- 
fiths, who commanded the detachment, received 
a peremptory order from General Elphinstone 
to force his way without loss of time to Cabul, 
where the insurrection had already broken out 
in all its violence. While striking his camp he 
was attacked by the mountaineers, who now 
began to assemble on the neighbouring heights 
in great numbers; and his march through the 
pass from Bootkhak to Cabul was one continued 
conflict, nothing saving him from heavy loss but 
the steadiness and gallantry of his troops, and 
the excellence of his own dispositions. He 
arrived in cantonments before daybreak on the 
morning of the 3d November. 

The two great leaders of the rebellion were 
Ameenoollah Khan, the chief of Logue, and 
AbdooUah Khan, Achukzye, a chief of great 
influence, and possessing a large portion of the 
Pisheen valley. 

Ameenoollah Khan had hitherto been consi- 
dered one of the staunchest friends of the ex- 
isting government ; and such was the confidence 
placed in him by the wuzeer, that he had se- 
lected him to take charge of Humza Khan, the 
lately superseded governor of the Giljyes, as a 
prisoner to Ghuznee. This man now distin- 
guished himself as one of our most inveterate 
enemies. To illustrate the character of his 
coadjutor, Abdoollah Khan it will be sufficient 
to relate the following anecdote. In order to 
get rid of his elder brother, who stood between 
him and the inheritance, he caused him to be 
seized and buried up to the chin in the earth. 
A rope was then fastened round his neck, and 
to the end of it was haltered a wild horse : the 
animal was then driven round in a circle, until 
the unhappy victim's head was twisted from his 



8 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



shoulders. This same man is also mentioned 
in terms of just abhorrence by Capt. A. Conolly 
in his Travels. 

But though the two above-named chiefs took 
a leading part in the rebellion, there can be little 
doubt that it had its origin in the deep offence 
given to the Giljyes by the ill-advised reduction 
of their annual stipends — a measure which had 
been forced upon Sir William Macnaghten by 
Lord Auckland.* This they considered, and 
with some show of justice, as a breach of faith 
on the part of our government : at all events, 
that was surely mistaken economy which raised 
into hostility men, whose determined spirit un- 
der a sense of wrong the following anecdote 
may illustrate. When oppressed by Nadir Shah, 
the Giljye tribes, rather than succumb to the 
tyrant's will, took refuge in the mountains 
amidst the snow, where with their families they 
fed for months on roots alone : of these they 
sent a handful to Nadir, with the message, that, 
so long as such roots could be procured, they 
would continue to resist his tyranny. Such 
were many of the men now leagued together 
by one common feeling of hatred against us. 

A passage occurring in the posthumous mem- 
orandum by the Envoy, now in Lady Macnagh- 
ten's possession, requires insertion here :- — 

" The immediate cause of the outbreak in 
the capital was a seditious letter addressed by 
Abdoollah Khan to several chiefs of influence 
at Cabul, staling that it was the design of the 
Envoy to seize and send them ail to London ! 
The principal rebels met on the previous night, 
and, relying on the inflammable feelings of tiie 
people of Cabul, they pretended that the king 
had issued an order to put all infidels to death; 
having previously forged an order from him for 
our destruction, by the common process of wash- 
ing out the contents of a genuine paper, with 
the exception of the seal, and substituting their 
own wicked inventions." 

Such at least is the generally received version 
of the story, though persons are not wanting 
who would rashly pronounce the king guilty of 
the design imputed to him. 

But, however that may be, it is certain that 
the events, which I have already narrated, ought 
to have been enough to arouse the authorities 
from their blind security. It ought, however, 
to be stated that, alarmed by certain symptoms 
of disaffection in different parts of the country, 
and conscious of the inadequacy of the means 
he then possessed to quell any determined and 
general insurrection, Sir William had, a few 
months previously, required the presence of se- 
veral more regiments : he was however induced 
to cancel this wise precautionary measure. But, 
even had this additional force arrived, it is next 
to certain that the loss of British honour, sub- 
sequently sustained, could only have been de- 
ferred for a period. A fearfully severe lesson 
was necessary to remove the veil from the eyes 
of those, who, drawing their conclusions from 

* The editor invites particular attention to the 
note on this subject on our first page. 



their wishes, would consider Affghanistan as a 
settled country. It is but justice to Sir William 
Macnaghten to say that such recommendations 
from him as were incompatible with the re- 
trenching system were not received at head- 
quarters in a way encouraging to him as a pub- 
lic officer. 



CHAPTER I. 

Outbreak of the Rebellion. Murder of Sir Alexander 
Burnes. Want of energy. Attacks on Capt. Law- 
rence and Lieut. Sturt. Character of Gen. Elphin- 
stone. Uumilitary position and construction of the 
cantonment at Cabul. 

November 2d, 1841. — At an early hour this 
morning, the startling intelligence was brought 
from the city, that a popular outbreak had taken 
place ; that the shops were all closed ; and 
that a general attack had been made on the 
houses of all British ofiicers residing in Cabul. 
About 8 A. M. a hurried note was received by 
the Envoy in cantonments from Sir Alexander 
Burnes,* stating that the minds of the people 
had been strongly excited by some mischievous 
reports, but expressing a hope that he should 
succeed in quelling' the commotion. About 9 
A. M. however, a rumour was circulated, which 
afterwards proved but too well founded, that 
Sir Alexander had been murdered, and Capt. 
Johnson's treasury plundered. Flames were 
now seen to issue from that part of the city 
where they dwelt, and it was too apparent that 
the endeavour to appease the people by quiet 
means had failed, and that it would be neces- 
sary to have recourse to stronger measures. 
The report of fire-arms was incessant, and 
seemed to extend through the town from end 
to end. 

Sir William Macnaghten now called upon 
Gen. Elphinstone to act. An order was accord- 
ingly sent to Brigadier Shelton, then encamped 
at Seeah Sung, about a mile and a half distant 
from cantonments, to march forthwith to the 
Bala Hissar or royal citadel, where his Majesty 
Shah Shooja resided, commanding a large por- 
tion of the city, with the following troops ; viz. 
one company of H, M. 44th foot ; a wing of the 
54th regiment N. I., under Major Ewart ; the 
6th regiment Shah's infantry, under Capt. Hop- 
kins ; and 4 horse artillery guns, under Capt. 
NichoU ; and on arrival there to act according 
to his own judgment, after consulting with the 
King. 

The remainder of the troops encamped at 
Seeah Sung were at the same time ordered 
into cantonments ; H. M. 44th foot under Lieut- 
Col. Mackerell ; 2 horse artillery guns under 
Lieut. Waller; and Anderson's irregular horse. 
A messenger was likewise despatched to recall 
the 37th N. I. from Khoord-Cabul without delay. 

* The Envoy lived in the cantonment, and Sir 
A. Burnes in the City. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



9 



The troops at this time in cantonments were as 
follows : viz. 5th regiment N. I., under Lieut.- 
Col. Oliver ; a wing- of 54th N. I.; 5 six-pounder 
field gnns, with a detachment of the Shah's 
artillery, under Lieut. Warburton ; the Envoy's 
body-guard; a troop of Skinner's horse, and an- 
other of local horse, under Lieut. Walker ; 
three companies of the Shah's sappers, under 
Capt. Walsh ; and about 20 men of the Com- 
pany's sappers, attached to Capt. Paton, Assist.- 
Q,r.-JVlast.-Gen. 

•Widely spread and formidable as this insur- 
rection proved to be afterwards, it was at first 
a mere insignificant ebullition of discontent on 
the part of a few desperate and restless men, 
which military energy and promptitude ought 
to have crushed in the biid. Its commencement 
was an attack by certainly not 300 men on the 
dwellings of Sir Alexander Burnes and Capt. 
Johnson, paymaster to the Shah's force ; and so 
little did Sir Alexander himself apprehend se- 
rious consequences, that he not only refused, 
on its first breaking out, to comply with the 
earnest entreaties of the wuzeer to accompany 
him to the Bala Hissar, but actually forbade his 
guard to fire on the assailants, attempting to 
check what he supposed to be a mere riot, by 
haranguing the attacking party from the gallery 
of his house. The result was fatal to himself; 
tor, in spite of the devoted gallantry of the Se- 
poys, who composed his guard, and that of the 
paymaster's office and treasury on the opposite 
side of the street, who yielded their trust only 
with their latest breath, the latter were plun- 
dered, and his two companions, Lieut. William 
Broadfoot of the Bengal European regiment, 
and his brother Lieut. Burnes of the Bombay 
army, were massacred, in common with every 
man, woman, and child found on the premises, 
by these bloodthirsty miscreants. Lieut. Broad- 
foot killed five or six men with his own hand, 
before he was shot down. 

No man, surely, in a highly responsible pub- 
lic situation — especially in such a one as that 
held by the late Sir Alexander Burnes — ought 
ever to indulge in a state of blind security, or 
to neglect salutary warnings, however small. 
It is indisputable that such warnings had been 
given to him ; especially by a respectable Aff- 
ghan named Taj-Mahomed, on the very previous 
night, who went in person to Sir A. Burnes to 
put him on his guard, but retired disgusted by 
the incredulity with which his assertions were 
received. It is not for me to comment on his 
public character. It is the property of the civi- 
lized portion of the world ; but it is due to 
another, little known beyond the immediate 
sphere in which he moved, to say that, had this 
outbreak been productive of no effects beyond 
the death of LteMi. William Broadfoot, it could 
not be sufficiently deplored : in him was lost to 
the state not only one of its bravest and most 
intelligent officers, but a mnn who for honesty of 
purpose and soundness of judgment, I may boldly 
aver, could not be surpassed. 

The King, who was in the Bala Hissar, being 



somewhat startled by the increasing number of 
the rioters, although not at the time aware, so 
far as we can judge, of the assassination of Sir 
A. Burnes, de.spatched one of his sons with a 
number of his immediate Affghan retainers, and 
that corps of Hindoostanees commonly called 
Campbell's regiment, with two guns, to restore 
order : no support, however, was rendered to 
these by our troops, whose leaders appeared so 
thunderstruck by the intelligence of the out- 
break, as to be incapable of adopting more than 
the most puerile defensive measures. Even Sir 
William Macnaghten seemed, from a note re- 
ceived at this time from him by Captain Trevor, 
to apprehend little; danger, as he therein ex- 
pressed his perfect confidence as to the speedy 
and complete success of Campbell's Hindoo- 
stanees in putting an end to the disturbance. 
Such, however, was not the case ; for the 
enemy, encouraged by our inaction, increased 
rapidly in spirit and numbers, and drove back 
the King's guard with great slaughter, the guns 
being with difficulty saved. 

It must be understood that Captain Trevor 
lived at this time with his family in a strong 
bourge, or tower, situated by the river side, 
near the Kuzzilbash quarter, which, on the 
west, is wholly distinct from the remainder of 
the city. Within musket shot, on the opposite 
side of the river, in the direction of the strong 
and populous village of Deh Afl^ghan, is a fort 
of some size, then used as a godown, or store- 
house, by the Shah's commissariat, part of it 
being occupied by Brigadier Anquetil, com- 
manding the Shah's force. Close to this fort, 
divided by a narrow water-course, was the 
house of Capt. Troup, Brigade Major of the 
Shah's force, perfectly defensible against mus- 
ketry. Both Brigadier Anquetil and Captain 
Troup had gone out on horseback early in the 
morning towards cantonments, and were unable 
to return; but the above fort and house con- 
tained the usual guard of Sepoys; and in a 
garden close at hand called the Yaboo-Khaneh, 
or lines of the baggage-cattle, was a small 
detachment of the Shah's sappers and miners, 
and a party of Captain Ferris's juzailchecs. 
Capt. Trevor's tower was capable of being 
made good against a much stronger force than 
the rebels at this present time could have col- 
lected, had it been properly garrisoned. 

As it was, the Hazirbash, or King's life- 
guards, were, under Capt. Trevor, congregated 
round their leader, to protect him and his 
family; which duty, it will be seen, they well 
performed under very trying circumstances. 
For what took place in this quarter I beg to 
refer to a communication made to me at my 
request by Captain Colin Mackenzie, Assistant 
Political Agent at Peshawur, who then occu- 
pied the godown portion of the fort above men- 
tioned, which will be found hereafter.* 

* I am sorry to say that this document has not 
reached me with the rest of the manuscript. I 
have not struck out the reference, because there is 



10 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



I have already stated that Brigadier Shelton 
was early in the day directed to proceed with 
part of the Seeah Sung force to occupy the Bala 
Hissar, and, if requisite, to lead his troops 
against the insurgents. Capt. Lawrence, mili- 
tary secretary to the Envoy, was at the same 
time sent forward to prepare the King for that 
officer's reception. Taking with him four 
troopers of the body-guard, he was galloping 
along the main road, when, shortly after cross- 
ing the river, he was suddenly attacked by an 
Affghan, who, rushing from behind a wall, made 
a desperate cut at him with a large two-handed 
knife. He dexterously avoided the blow by 
spurring his horse on one side ; but, passing 
onwards, he was fired upon by about fifty men, 
who, having seen his approach, ran out from the 
Lahore gate of the city to intercept him. He 
reached the Bala Hissar safe, where he found 
the King apparently in a state of great agitation, 
he having witnessed the assault from the win- 
dow of his palace. His Majesty expressed an 
eager desire to conform to the Envoy's wishes 
in all respects in this emergency. 

Capt. Lawrence was still conferring with the 
King, when Lieut. Sturt, onr executive engi- 
neer, rushed into the palace, stabbed in three 
places about the face and neck. He had been 
sent by Brigadier Shelton to make arrangements 
for the accommodation of the troops, and had 
reached the gate of the Dewan Khaneh, or hall 
of audience, when the attempt at his life was 
made by some one who had concealed himself 
there for that purpose, and who immediately 
effected his escape. The wounds were fortu- 
nately not dangerous, and Lieut. Sturt was con- 
veyed back to cantonments in the King's own 
palanquin, under a strong escort. Soon after 
this. Brig. Shelton's force arrived ; but the day 
was suffered to pass without any thing being 
done demonstrative of British energy and power. 
The murder of our countrymen, and the spolia- 
tion of public and private property, were per- 
petrated with impunity within a mile of our 
cantonment, and under the very walls of the 
Bala Hissar. 

Such an exhibition on our part taught the 
enemy their strength — confirmed against us 
those who, however disposed to join in the 
rebellion, had hitherto kept aloof from pruden- 
tial motives, and ultimately encouraged the 
nation to unite as one man for our destruction. 

It was, in fact, the crisis of all others calcu- 
lated to test the qualities of a military com- 
mander. Whilst, however, it is impossible for 
an unprejudiced person to approve the military 
dispositions of this eventful period, it is equally 
our duty to discriminate. The most responsible 
party is not always the most culpable. It would 
be the height of injustice to a most amiable and 
gallant officer not to notice the long course of 

hope that it still exists, and may be yet appended 
to this narrative. The loss of any thing else from 
Capt. Mackenzie's pen will be regretted by all who 
read his other communication, the account of the 
Envoy's murder. — Editor. 



7 

painful and wearing illness, which had materi- 
ally affected the nerves, and probably even the 
intellect, of Gen. Elphinstone ; cruelly inca- 
pacitating him, so far as he was personally 
concerned, from acting in this sudden emer- 
gency with the promptitude and vigour neces- 
sary for our preservation. Major-Gen. Elphin- 
stone had some time before represented to 
Lord Auckland the shattered state of his health, 
stating plainly and honestly that it had unfitted 
him to continue in command, and requesting 
permission to resign. Lord Auckland at first 
pressed him to remain, but ultimately acceded 
to his wishes ; and the General was on the point 
of returning to India, thence to embark for 
England, when the rebellion unhappily broke 
out.* No one, who knew Gen. Elphinstone, 
could fail to esteem his many excellent qualities 
both in public and private life. To all under 
his command, not excepting the youngest sub- 
altern, he was ever accessible, and in the high- 
est degree courteous and considerate : nor did 
he ever exhibit, either in word or practice, the 
slightest partiality for officers of his own service 
over those of the Company. His professional 
knowledge was extensive ; and, before disease 
had too much impaired his frame for active 
exertion, he had zealously applied himself to 
improve and stimulate every branch of the 
service. He had, indeed, but one unhappy 
fault as a general — the- result, probably, of age 
and infirmity — and this was a want of confi- 
dence in his own judgment, leading him to 
prefer every body's opinion to his own, until, 
amidst the conflicting views of a multitude of 
counsellors, he was at a loss which course to 
take. Hence much of that indecision, procras- 
tination, and want of method, which paralyzed 
all our efforts, gradually demoralized the troops, 
and ultimately, not being redeemed by the 
qualities of his second in command, proved the 
ruin of us ail. I might add that, during the 
siege, no one exposed his person more fearlessly 
or frequently to the enemy's fire than Gen. El- 
phinstone : but his gallantry was never doubted. 
Unhappily, Sir William Macnaghten at first 
made light of the insurrection, and, by his repre- 
sentations as to the general feeling of the peo- 
ple towards us, not only deluded himself, but 
misled the General in councih The unwelcome 
truth was soon forced upon us, that in the 
whole Affghan nation we could not reckon on 
a single friend. 

But though no active measures of aggression 
were taken, all necessary preparations were 
made to secure the cantonment against attack. 
It fell to my own lot to place every available 
gun in position round the works. Besides the 
guns already mentioned, we had in the maga- 
zine 6 nine-pounder iron guns, 3 twenty-four 
pounder howitzers, 1 twelve-pounder ditto, and 
3 Scinch mortars ; but the detail of artillery- 
men fell very short of what was required to 
man all these efficiently, consisting of only 80 



* See a note by the Editor on our first page. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



11 



Punjabees belonging to the Shah, under Lieut. 
Warburton, very insufficiently instructed, and 
of doubtful fidelity. 

To render our position intelligible, it is neces- 
sary to describe the cantonment, or fortified 
lines 60 called. It is uncertain whether, for 
the faults which I am about to describe, any 
blame justly attaches to Lieut. Sturt, the engi- 
neer, a talented and sensible officer, but who 
was often obliged to yield his better judgment 
to the spirit of false economy which character- 
ized our Affghan policy.. The credit, however, 
of having selected a site for the cantonments, 
or controlled the execution of its works, is not 
a distinction now likely to be claimed exclu- 
eively by any one. But it must always remain 
a wonder that any Government, or any officer 
or set of officers, who had either science or ex- 
perience in the field, should, in a half-con- 
quered country, fix their forces (already inad- 
equate to the services to which they might be 
called) in so extraordinary and injudicious a 
military position. Every engineer officer who had 
been consulted, since the firstoccupationof Cabul 
by our troops, had pointed to the Bala Hissar as 
the only suitable place for a garrison which 
was to keep in subjection the city and the sur- 
rounding country ; but, above all, it was surely 
the only proper site for the magazine, on which 
the army's efficiency depended. In defiance, 
however, of rule and precedent, the position 
eventually fixed upon for our magazine and 
cantonment was a piece of low swampy ground, 
commanded on all sides by hills or forts. It 
consisted of a low rampart and a narrow ditch 
in the form of a parellelogram, thrown up along 
the line of the Kohistan road, 1000 yards long 
600 broad, with round flanking bastions at each 
corner, every one of which was commanded by 
some fort or hill. To one end of this work was 
attached a space nearly half as large again, 
and surrounded by a simple wall. This was 
called the " Mission Compound :" half of it 
was appropriated for the residence of the 
Envoy, the other half being crowded with build- 
ings, erected without any attempt at regularity, 
for the accommodation of the oSicers and assist- 
ants of the mission, and the Envoy's body-guard. 
This large space required in time of siege to 
be defended, and thus materially weakened the 
garrison ; while its very existence rendered the 
whole face of the cantonment, to which it was 
annexed, nugatory for purposes of defence. Be- 
sides these disadvantages, the lines were a 
great deal too extended, so that the ramparts 
could not be properly manned without harassing 
the garrison. On the eastern side, about a 
quarter of a mile off^, flowed the Cabul river in 
a direction parallel with the Kohistan road. 
Between the river and cantonments, about 150 
yards from the latter, was a wide canal. .Gen. 
Elphinstone, on his arrival in April, 1841, per- 
ceived at a glance the utter unfitness of the 
cantonment for purposes of protracted defence, 
and when a new fort was about to be built for 
the magazine on the south side, he liberally 



offered to purchase for the government, out of 
his own funds, a large portion of the land in 
the vicinity, with the view of removing some 
very objectionable inclosures and gardens, 
which offered shelter to our enemy within 
two hundred yards of our ramparts ; but neither 
was his offer accepted, nor were his represen- 
tations on the subject attended with any good 
result. He lost no time, however, in throwing 
a bridge over the river, in a direct line between 
the cantonments and the Seeah Sung camp, 
and in rendering the bridge over the canal passa- 
ble for guns; which judicious measure short- 
ened the distance for artillery and infantry by 
at least two miles, sparing too the necessity 
which existed previously of moving to and fro 
by the main road, which was commanded by 
three or four forts, as well as from the city 
walls. Moreover, the Cabul river being liable 
to sudden rises, and almost always unfordable 
during the rainy season (March and April), it 
will easily be understood that the erection of 
this bridge was a work of much importance. 
But the most unaccountable oversight of all, 
and that which may be said to have contributed 
most largely to our subsequent disasters, wag 
that of having the commissariat stores detached 
from cantonments, in an old fort, which in an 
outbreak, would be almost indefensible. Capt. 
Skinner, the chief commissariat officer, at the 
time when this arrangement was made, earn- 
estly solicited from the authorities a place 
within the cantonment for his stores, but re- 
ceived for answer that " no such place could be 
given him, as they were far too busy in erecting 
barracks for the men to think of commissariat 
stores." The Envoy himself pressed this point 
very urgently, but without avail. At the south- 
west angle of cantonments was the bazar vil- 
lage, surrounded by a low wall, and so crowded 
with mud huts as to form a perfect maze. 
Nearly opposite, with only the high road be- 
tween, was the small fort of Mahomed She- 
reef, which perfectly commanded our southwest 
bastion. Attached to this fort was the Shah 
Bagh, or King's garden, surrounded by a high 
wall, and comprising a space of about half a 
square mile. About two hundred yards higher 
up the road towards the city, was the commis- 
sariat fort, the gate of which stood very nearly 
opposite the entrance of the Shah Bagh. There 
were various other forts at different points of 
our works, which will be mentioned in the 
course of events. On the east, at the distance 
of about a mile, was a range of low hills divi- 
ding us from the Seeah Sung camp ; and on 
the west, about the same distance off, was an- 
other somewhat higher range, at the northeast 
flank of which, by'the road-side, was the village 
of Beymaroo, commanding a great part of the 
Mission Compound. In fact we were so hemmed 
in on all sides, that when the rebellion became 
general, the troops could not move out a dozen 
paces from either gate, without being exposed 
to the fire of some neighbouring hostile fort, 
garrisoned too by marksmen who seldom missed 



12 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



their aim. The country around us was like- 
wise full of impediments to the movements of 
artillery and cavalry, being in many places 
flooded, and every where closely intersected 
by deep water-cuts. 

I cannot help adding, in conclusion, that al- 
most all the calamities that befel our ill-starred 
force may be traced more or less to the de- 
fects of our position ; and that our cantonment 
at Cabul, whether we look to its situation or its 
construction, must ever be spoken of as a dis- 
grace to our military skill and judgment. 



CHAPTER II. 

The 37th Regiment attacked on its return from Khoord- 
Cabul. Murder of Lieuts. Maule and Wheeler. 
Loss of the Commissariat Fort. The General's 
Indecision. Major Thain and Capt. Paton. Suc- 
cessful attack on the Fort of Mahomed Shereef 
Engagements with AffgKan Horse and Foot. The 
Enem^j's Plan to reduce the British by Starvation. 
Brigadier Shelton sent for from Bala Jtiissan 

November 3d — At 3 a. m. the alarm was 
sounded at the eastern gate of cantonments, in 
consequence of a brisk file-firing in the direc- 
tion of Seeah Sung, which turned out to proceed 
from the 37th regiment N. I. on its return from 
Khoord-Cabui, having been closely followed 
up the whole way by a body of about 3000 
Giljyes. The regiment managed, nevertheless, 
to save all its baggage excepting a few tents, 
which were left on the ground for want of car- 
riage, and to bring in all the wounded safe. 

A more orderly march was never made under 
such trying circumstances, and it reflects the 
highest credit on Major Griffiths and all con- 
cerned. This regiment was a valuable acquisi- 
tion to our garrison, being deservedly esteemed 
one of the best in the service. Three guns of 
the mountain train under Lieut. Green accom- 
panied them, and were of the greatest use in 
defending the rear on the line of march. In 
consequence of their arrival, a reinforcement 
was sent into the Bala Hissar, consisting of the 
left wing 54th N. I., with Lieut. Green's guns, 
1 iron nine-pounder, 1 twenty-four-pounder ho- 
witzer, 2 5i-inch mortars, and a supply of maga- 
zine stores. They all reached it in safety, 
though a few shots were fired at the rear-guard 
from some orchards near the city. Brigadier 
Shelton was ordered to maintain a sharp fire 
upon the city from the howitzers and guns, and 
to endeavour to fire the houses by means of 
shells and carcasses from the two mortars ; 
should he also find it practicable to send a force 
into the city, he was to do so. 

Early in the afternoon, a detachment under 
Major Swayne, consisting of two companies 5th 
N. I., one of H. M. 44th, and 2 H. A. guns 
under Lieut. Waller, proceeded out of the west- 
ern gate towards the city, to effect, if possible, 
a junction at the Lahore gate with a part of 
Brigadier Shelton's force from the Bala Hissar. 
They drove back and defeated a party of the 
enemy who occupied the road near the Shah 



Bagh, but had to encounter a sharp fire from 
the Kohistan gate of the city, and from the walls 
of various enclosures, behind which a aumber 
of marksmen had concealed themselves, as also 
from the fort of Mahmood Khan commanding 
the road along which they had to pass. Lieut. 
Waller and several Sepoys were wounded. 
Major Sv^ayne, observing the whole line of road 
towards the Lahore gale strongly occupied by 
some Affghan horse and juzailchees, and fearing 
that he would be unable to effect the object in 
view with so small a force unsupported by ca- 
valry, retired into cantonments. Shortly after 
this, a large body of the rebels having issued 
from the tort of Mahmood Khan, 900 yards 
southeast of cantonments, extended themselves 
in a line along the bank of the river, displaying 
a flag ; an iron nine-pounder was brought to 
bear on them from our southeast bastion, and a 
round or two of shrapnell caused them to seek 
shelter behind some neighbouring banks, 
whence, after some desultory firing on both 
sides, they retired. 

Whatever hopes may have been entertained, 
up to this period, of a speedy termination to the 
insurrection, they began now to wax fainter 
every hour, and an order was despatched to the 
officer commanding at Candahar to lose no time 
in sending to our assistance the 16th and 43d 
regiments N. I. (which were under orders for 
India,) together with a troop of horse artillery, 
and half a regiment of cavalry ; an order was 
likewise sent oft' to recall Gen. Sale with his 
brigade from Gundamuck. Capt. John Conolly, 
political assistant to the Envoy, went into the 
Bala Hissar early this morning, to remain with 
the King, and to render every assistance in his 
power to Brigadier Shelton. 

On this day LieuL Richard Maule, command- 
ing the Kohistanee regin)ent, which on its re- 
turn from Zoormut had been stationed at Kah- 
darra in Kohistan, about twenty miles north- 
west of Cabul, with the object of keeping down 
disaffection in that quarter, being deserted by 
his men, was, together with local Lieut. 
Wheeler, his adjutant, barbarously murdered 
by a band of rebels. They defended themselves 
resolutely for several minutes; but at length 
fell under the fire of some juzails. Lieut. Maule 
had been previously informed of his danger by 
a friendly native, but chose rather to run the 
risk of being sacrificed than desert the post as- 
signed him. Thus fell a noble-hearted soldier 
and a devout Christian. 

November 4:th. — The enemy having taken 
strong possession of the Shah Bagh, or King's 
Garden, and thrown a garrison into the fort of 
Mahomed Shereef, nearly opposite the bazar, 
effectually prevented any communication be- 
tween the cantonment and commissariat fort, 
the gate of which latter was commanded by the 
gate of the Shah Bagh on the other side of the 
road. 

Ensign Warren of the 5th N. I. at this time 
occupied the commissariat fort with 100 men, 
and having reported that he was very hard 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



13 



pressed by the enemy, and in danger of being 
completely cut off, the General, either forgetful 
or unaware at the moment of the important 
fact that upon the possession of this fort we 
were entirely dependent for provisions, and 
anxious only to save the lives of men whom he 
believed to be in imminent peril, hastily gave 
directions that a party under the command of 
Capt, Swayne of H. M.'s 44th Reg:t. should 
proceed immediately to bring off Ensign War- 
ren and his garrison to cantonments, abandon- 
ing the fort to the enemy. A few minutes pre- 
viously an attempt to relieve him had been 
made by Ensign Gordon, with a company of the 
37th N. I. and eleven camels laden with ammu- 
nition ; but the party were driven back, and 
Ensign Gordon killed. Capt. Swayne now ac- 
cordingly proceeded towards the spot with two 
companies of H. M.'s 44th ; scarcely had they 
issued from cantonments ere a sharp and de- 
structive fire was poured upon them from Ma- 
homed Shereef's fort, which, as they proceeded, 
was taken up by the marksmen in the Shah 
Bagh, under whose deadly aim both officers and 
men suffered severely ; Capts. Swayne and 
Robinson of the 44th being killed, and Lieuts. 
Hallahan, Evans, and Fortye wounded, in this 
disastrous business. It now seemed to the offi- 
cer, on whom the command had devolved, im- 
practicable to bring off Ensign Warren's party, 
without risking the annihilation of his own, 
which had already sustained so rapid and severe 
a loss in officers ; he therefore returned forth- 
with to cantonments. In the course of the 
evening, another attempt was made by a party 
of the 5th Lt. Cavalry ; but they encountered 
so severe a fire from the neighbouring enclo- 
sures as to oblige them to return without effect- 
ing their desired object, with the loss of 8 
troopers killed and 14 badly wounded. Capt. 
Boyd, the Assist.-Com.-Gen., having meanwhile 
been made acquainted with the General's inten- 
tion to give up the fort, hastened to lay before 
him the disastrous consequences that would 
ensue from so doing. He stated that the place 
contained, besides large supplies of wheat and 
atta, all his stores of rum, medicine, clothing, 
&c., the value of which might be estimated at 
four lacs of rupees; that to abandon such valu- 
able property would not only e.xpose the force 
to the immediate want of the necessaries of 
life, but would infallibly inspire the enemy with 
tenfold courage. He added that we had not 
above two days' supply of provisions in canton- 
ments, and that neither himself nor Capt. John- 
son of the Shah's commissariat had any prospect 
of procuring them elsewhere under existing 
circumstances. In consequence of this strong 
representation on the part of Capt. Boyd, the 
General sent immediate orders to Ensign War- 
ren to hold out the fort to the last extremity. 
(Ensign Warren, it must be remarked, denied 
having received this note.) Early in the niaht 
a letter was received from him to the effect 
that he believed the enemy were busily engaged 
in mining one of the towers, and that such was 



the alarm among the Sepoys that several of 
them had actually made their escape over the 
wall to cantonments; that the enemy were 
making preparations to burn down the gate; 
and that, considering the temper of his men, 
he did not expect to be able to hold out many 
hours longer, unless reinforced without delay. 
In reply to this he was informed that he would 
be reinforced by 2 a. m. 

At about 9 o'clock p. m. there was an assembly 
of staff and other officers at the General's house, 
when the Envoy came in and expressed his 
serious conviction that, unless Mahomed She- 
reefs fort were taken that very night, we should 
lose the commissariat fort, or at all events be 
unable to bring out of it provisions for the troops. 
The disaster of the morning rendered the Gene- 
ral extremely unwilling to expose his officers 
and men to any similar peril ; but, on the other 
hand, it was urged that the darkness of the 
night would nullify the enemy's fire, who would 
also most likely be taken unawares, as it was 
not the custom of the Affghans to maintain a 
very strict watch at night. A man in Capt. 
Johnson's employ was accordingly sent out to 
reconnoitre the place; he returned in a few 
minutes with the intelligence that about twenty 
men were seated outside the fort near the gate, 
smoking and talking; and from what he over- 
heard of their conversation, he judged the gar- 
rison to be very small, and unable to resist a 
sudden onset. The debate was now resumed, 
but another hour passed and the General could 
not make up his mind. A second spy was de- 
spatched, whose report tended to corroborate 
what the first had said. I was then sent to 
Lieut. Sturt, the engineer, who was nearly 
recovered from his wounds, for his opinion. He 
at first expressed himself in favour of an im- 
mediate attack, but, on hearing that some of 
the enemy were on the watch at the gate, he 
judged it prudent to defer the assault till an 
early hour in the morning: this decided the 
General, though not before several hours had 
slipped away in fruitless discussion. 

Orders were at last given fi^r a detachment to 
be in readiness at 4 a. m. at the Kohistan gate ; 
and Capt. Bellew, Deputy Assist.-Quar.-Mast.- 
Gen., volunteered to blow open the gate; 
another party of H. M.'s 44th were at the same 
time to issue by a cut in the south face of the 
rampart, and march simultaneously towards the 
commissariat fort, to reinforce the garrison. 
Morning had, however, well dawned ere the 
men could be got under arms; and they were 
on the point of marching off, when it was re- 
ported that Ensign Warren had just arrived in 
cantonments with his garrison, having evacuated 
the fort. It seems that the enemy had actually 
set fire to the gate; and Ensign Warren, seeing 
no prospect of a reinforcement, and expecting 
the enemy every moment to rush in, led out his 
men by a hole which he had prepared in the 
wall. Being called upon in a public letter from 
the Assist. -Adj.-G en. to state his reasons for 
abandoning his post, he replied that he was 



14 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



ready to do so before a court of inquiry, which 
he requested might be assembled to investigate 
his conduct; it was not, however, deemed ex- 
pedient to comply with his request. 

It is beyond a doubt that our feeble and in- 
effectual defence of this fort, and the valuable 
booty it yielded, was the first fatal blow to our 
supremacy at Cabul, and at once determined 
those chiefs — and more particularly the Kuzzil- 
bashes — who had hitherto remained neutral, to 
join in the general combination to drive us from 
the country. 

Capt. Trevor, having held out his house 
against the rebels until all hope of relief was at 
an end, was safely escorted into cantonments 
this morning, with his wife and seven children, 
by his Hazirbash horsemen, who behaved faith- 
fully, but now out of regard for their families, 
dispersed to their houses. Capt. Mackenzie 
likewise, after defending his fort until his am- 
munition was expended, fought his way into can- 
tonments late last night, having received a slight 
■wound on the road. His men had behaved with 
the utmost bravery, and made several successful 
sallies. See his own account.* 

November 5th. — It no sooner became gene- 
rally known that the commissariat fort, upon 
which we were dependent for supplies, had been 
abandoned, than one universal feeling of indig- 
nation pervaded the garrison ; nor can I describe 
the impatience of the troops, but especially the 
native portion, to be led out for its recapture — 
a feeling that was by no means diminished by 
their seeing the Affghans crossing and re-cross- 
ino- the road between the commissariat fort and 
the gate of the Shah Bagh,\a.den with the pro- 
visions upon which had depended our ability to 
make a protracted defence. Observing this dis- 
position among the troops, and feeling the im- 
portance of checking the triumph of the enemy 
in its infancy, I strenuously urged the General 
to send out a party to capture Mahomed Shereef's 
fort by blowing open the gate, and volunteered 
myself to keep the road clear from any sudden 
advance of cavalry with two H. A, guns, under 
cover of whose fire the storming party could 
advance along the road, protected from the fire 
of the fort by a low wall, which lined the road 
the whole way. The General agreed ; a storm- 
ing party under Major Swayne, 5th H. I., was 
ordered; the powder bags were got ready; and 
at about 12 mid-day we issued from the western 
gate : the guns led the way, and were brought 
into action under the partial cover of some trees, 
within one hundred yards of the fort. For the 
space of twenty minutes the artillery continued 
to work the guns under an excessively sharp 
fire from the walls of the fort; but Major 
Swayne, instead of rushing forward with his 
men, as had been agreed, had in the mean time 
remained stationary under cover of the wall by 
the road side. The General, who was watching 
our proceedings from the gateway, observing 



* I have already stated with regret that this in- 
teresting paper is missing. — Editor. 



that the gun ammunition was running short, 
and that the troops had failed to take advantage 
of the best opportunity for advancing, recalled 
us into cantonments : thus the enemy enjoyed 
their triumph undiminished; and great was the 
rage of the Sepoys of the 37th N. I., who had 
evinced the utmost eagerness to be led out, at 
this disappointment of their hopes. It must be 
acknowledged that the General was singularly 
unfortunate in many of the coadjutors about him, 
who with all the zeal and courage which distin- 
guish British officers, were sadly lacking in that 
military judgment and quicksightedness which 
are essential to success in a critical moment. 
Let me here, however, pay a just tribute to the 
memory of two of his staff officers, now, alas ! 
no more. Few men have ever combined all the 
excellent qualities which constitute the good 
soldier and the good man more remarkably than 
did Major Thain of H. M.'s 21st Fusileers, A. 
D. C. to Gen. Elphinstone; while of Capt. 
Paton, deputy quarter-master-general, it may 
be safely affirmed, that in solid practical sense 
and genuine singleness of heart he was never 
surpassed. Would that all, to whom the Gene- 
ral was in the habit of deferring, had been 
equally wise to counsel and prompt to execute 
with the two above-named gallant men ! 

November 6th. — It was now determined to 
take the fort of Mahomed Shereef by regular 
breach and assault. At an early hour, 3 iron 
nine-pounder guns were brought to bear upon 
its northeast bastion, and 2 howitzers upon the 
contiguous curtain. I took charge of the former, 
and Lieut. Warburton of the latter. In the 
space of about two hours a practicable breach 
was effected, during which time a hot fire was 
poured upon the artillerymen from the enemy's 
sharp-shooters, stationed in a couple of high 
towers which completely commanded the bat- 
tery, whereby, as the embrasures crumbled 
away from the constant concussion, it became 
at length a difficult task to work the guns. A. 
storming party, composed of 3 companies, viz. 
1 comp. H. M. 44th, under Ensign Raban, 1 
comp. 5th N. I. under Lieut. Deas, 1 comp. 
37th under Lieut. Steer, the whole commanded 
by Major Griffiths, speedily carried the place. 
Poor Raban was shot through the heart, when 
conspicuously waving a flag on the summit of 
the breach. 

As this fort adjoined the Shah Bagh, it was 
deemed advisable to dislodge the enemy from 
the latter, if possible. Learning that there was 
a large opening in the wall in the north side of 
the garden, I took a six-pounder gun thither, 
and fired several rounds of grape and shrapnell 
upon parties of the enemy assembled within 
under the trees, which speedily drove them out ; 
and had a detachment of infantry taken advan- 
tage of the opportunity thus afforded to throw 
themselves into the building at the principal 
entrance by the road-side, the place might have 
been easily carried permanently, and imme- 
diate repossesion could have been then taken of 
the commissariat fort opposite, which had not 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUI* 



15 



yet been emptied of half its contents. While 
this was going on, a reconnoitring party under 
Major Thain, A. D. C, consisting of 1 H. A. 
gun, 1 troop 5th cavalry, and 2 comps. of in- 
fantry, scoured the plain to the west of canton- 
ments ; and having driven the enemy from se- 
veral enclosures, were returning homeward, 
when large numbers of Affghan horse and foot 
were observed to proceed from the direction of 
the city towards the southwest extremity of a 
hill, which runs in a diagonal direction from 
northeast to southwest across the plain to the 
west of cantonments. A resallah of Anderson's 
horse had been stationed on the summit of this 
hill all the morning as a picket, whence they 
had just been recalled, when a large body of the 
enemy's horse reached the base, and proceeded 
to crown the summit. Major Thain's party, ob- 
serving this, came to a halt ; and a few minutes 
afterwards a reinforcement opportunely arrived, 
consisting of 1 resallah of irregular horse under 
Capt. Anderson, 1 troop of ditto under Lieut. 
Walker, and 2 troops 5th cavalry under Capts. 
Collyer and Bott. I now considered it my duty 
to join the H. A. gun, which had no officer with 
it, and I accordingly left the six-pounder gun 
under the protection of Captain Mackenzie, 
who, with a few of his juzailchees, had now 
joined me, having been engaged in skirmishing 
across the plain towards the west end of the 
Shah Bagh, where, finding an opening, he had 
crept in with his men, and cleared that part of 
the garden, but, not being supported, had been 
obliged to retire with a loss of 15 killed out 
of 95. 

I now advanced with the H. A. gun, sup- 
ported by a troop of the 5th cavalry, to the foot 
of the hill, and opened fire upon the enemy, 
while the rest of the cavalry, headed by Ander- 
son's horse, rode briskly up the slope to force 
them ofi". The officers gallantly headed their 
men, and encountered about an equal number 
of the enemy, who advanced to meet them. A 
hand to hand encounter now took place, which 
ended in the Affghan horse retreating to the 
plain, leaving the hill in our possession. In 
this affair Capt. Anderson personally engaged, 
and slew the brother-in-law of Abdoollah Khan. 
Meanwhile the enemy began to muster strong on 
the plain to the west of the Shah Bagh, whence 
they appeared to be gradually extending them- 
'selves towards the cantonments, as if to inter- 
cept our return; it was therefore deemed pru- 
dent to recall the calvalry from the height, and 
show front in the plain, where they could act 
with more effect. A reinforcement of two 
companies of infantry and one H. A. gun was 
sent out, and the whole force was drawn up in 
order of battle, anticipating an attack, with one 
gun on either flank. In this position a distant fire 
was kept up by the enemy's juzailchees, which 
was answered principally by discharges of shrap- 
nell and round shot from the guns; the heights, 
too, were again crowned by the Affghan horse, 
but no disposition was manifested by them to 
encounter us in open fight, and, as the night 



gradually closed in, they slowly retired to the 
city. On this occasion about 100 of ti)e enemy 
fell on the hill, while the loss on our side was 
8 troopers killed, and 14 wounded. 

It will be remembered that I left a six- 
pounder gun at the opening in the wall of the 
Shah Bagh. After my departure, large num- 
bers of the enemy's infantry had filled the west 
end of the Shah Bagh, and, stealing up among 
the trees, and close to the high wall, towards 
the gun, kept up so hot and precise a fire as to 
render its removal absolutely necessary. Capt. 
Mackenzie had been joined by a party of H.M.'a 
44th ; with whom, and with a few of his own 
men, he endeavoured to cover the operation, 
which was extremely difficult, it being neces- 
sary to drag the gun by hand over bad ground. 
Several of the Shah's gunners were killed, and 
many of the covering party knocked over, the 
gun being barely saved. I may here add, that 
from this time forward the juzailchees, under 
the able direction of Capt. Mackenzie, who 
volunteered to lead them, were forward to dis- 
tinguish themselves on all occasions, and con- 
tinued to the very last a most useful part of our 
force, 

November 8lh. — An attempt was made by the 
enemy to mine one of the lowers of the fort 
we captured on the 6th, which could not have 
happened had vve taken possession of the gate 
of the Shah Bagh at the same time. Our chief 
cause of anxiety now was the empty state of 
our granary. Even with high bribes and liberal 
payment, the Envoy could only procure a scanty 
supply, insufficient for daily consumption, from 
the village of Beymaroo, about half a mile down 
the Kohistan road, to the north. The object of 
the enemy undoubtedly was to starve us out; 
to effect which the chiefs exerted their whole 
influence to prevent our being supplied from 
any of the neighbouring forts. Their game 
was a sure one ; and, so long as they held 
firmly together, it could not fail to be sooner or 
later successful. During the short interval of 
quiet, which ensued after our capture of the 
fort, the rebels managed to rig out a couple of 
guns which they procured from the workyard 
of Lieut. Warburton (in charge of the Shah's 
guns), situated, unfortunately, in the city. 
These they placed in a position near Mahmood 
Khan's fort, opposite the southeast bastion of 
cantonments. All this time a cannonade was 
daily kept up on the town by Capt. Nicholl of 
the Horse Artillery in the Bala Hissar ; but, 
though considerable damage was thereby done, 
and many of the enemy killed, it required a 
much more powerful battery than be possessed 
to ruin a place of such extent. On the morning 
of the 2d, when the rebellion commenced, the 
two guns, which were sent with Campbell's 
Hindoostanees into the city, had been left out- 
side the gate of the Bala Hissar in the confu- 
sion and hurry of retreat, where they had ever 
since remained. So jealous a watch was kept 
over these by the enemy from the houses of 
the Shah Bazar, that it was found impossible 



16 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



to get them back into the fort; and it was 
necessary for our troops to maintain an equally 
strict watch to prevent their being- removed 
by the enemy, who made several de.-perate 
efforts to obtain them. An attempt of this kind 
took place to-day, when the rebels were driven 
back into the city with considerable loss. 

November 9Ui. — The General's weak state 
of health rendering the presence of a coadjutor 
absolutely necessary, to relieve him from the 
command of the garrison, Brigadier Shelton, 
the second in command, was, at the earnest 
request of the Envoy, summoned in from the 
Bala Hissar, in the hope that, by heartily co- 
operating with the Envoy and General, he 
would strengthen their hands and rouse the 
sinking conttdence of the troops. He entered 
cantonments this morning, bringing with him 
1 H. A. gun, 1 mountain train ditto, 1 company 
H. M. 44th, the Shah's 6th infantry, and a small 
supply of atta. 



CHAPTER in. 

Despondency in Cantonment. Difference of opinion 
between Brigadier Shelton and Sir William Mac- 
naghten. Annoyance from the fire of the enemy 
out of several forts. Storming of the Rika-Bashee 
Fort, under Brigadier Shelton. Perilous situation 
and bravery of Lieut. Bird. Further engagements 
with the enemy. Superiority of the AfFghans in 
the use of fire-arms. 

November 10th. — Henceforward Brigadier 
Shelton bore a conspicuous part in the drama 
upon the issue of which so much depended. 
He had, however, from the very first, seemed 
to despair of the force being able to hold out 
the winter at Cabul, and strenuously advocated 
an immediate retreat to Jellalabad. 

This sort of despondency proved, unhappily, 
very infectious. It soon spread its baneful in- 
fluence among the officers, and was by them 
communicated to the soldiery. The number of 
croakers in garrison became perfectly frightful, 
lugubrious looks and dismal prophecies being 
encountered every where. The severe losses 
sustained by H. M.'s 44th under Capt. Swayne, 
on the 4th instant, had very much discouraged 
the men of that regiment ; and it is a lament- 
able fact that some of those European soldiers, 
who were naturally expected to exhibit to their 
native brethren in arms an e.xample of endurance 
and fortitude, were among the first to lose con- 
fidence and give vent to feelings of discontent 
at the duties imposed on them. The evil seed, 
once sprung up, became more and more difficult 
to eradicate, showing daily more and more how 
completely demoralizing to the British soldier 
is the very idea of a retreat. 

Sir William Macnaghten and his suite were 
altogether opposed to Brigadier Shelton in this 
matter, it being in his (the Envoy's) estimation 
a duty we owed the Government to retain our 
post, at whatsoever risk. This difference of 
opinion, on a question of such vital importance, 
was attended with unhappy results, inasmuch 



as it deprived the General, in his hour of need,, 
of the strength which unanimity imparts, and 
produced an uncommunicative and dishearten- 
ing reserve in an emergency which demanded 
the freest interchange of counsel and ideas. 

But I am digressing. — About 9 a. m. on the 
10th the enemy crowned the heights to the 
west in great force, and almost simultaneously 
a large body of horse and foot, supposed to be 
Giljyes, who had just arrived, made their ap- 
pearance on the Seeah Sung hills to the east, 
and, after firing a feu de joie, set up a loud 
shout, which was answered in a similar way by 
those on the opposite side of us. This was sup- 
posed to be a preconcerted signal for a joint 
attack on the cantonments. No movement was 
however made on the western side to molest 
us, but on the eastern quarter parties of the 
enemy, moving down into the plain, took pos- 
session of all the forts in that direction. One 
of these, called the Rika-bashee fort, was situ- 
ated directly opposite the Mission Compound, 
at the northeast angle of cantonments, within 
musket-shot of our works, into which the enemy 
soon began to pour a very annoying fire ; a 
party of sharp-shooters at the same time, con- 
cealmg themselves among the ruins of a house 
immediately opposite the northeast bastion, took 
deadly aim at the European artillerymen who 
were working the guns, one poor fellow being 
shot through the temple in the act of sponging. 
From 2 howitzers and a SJ-inch mortar, a dis- 
charge of shells into the fort was kept up for 
two hours. 

At this time not above two days' supply of 
provisions remained in garrison, and it was very 
clear that, unless the enemy were quickly driven 
out from their new possession, we should soon 
be completely hemmed in on all sides. At the 
Envoy's urgent desire, he taking the entire re- 
sponsibility on himself, the General ordered a 
force to hold themselves in readiness under 
Brigadier Shelton to storm the Rika-bashee 
fort. About 12 a. m. the following troops as- 
sembled at the eastern gate : — 2 H. A. guns, 1 
mountain train gun. Walker's horse, H. M.'s 
44th foot under Col. Mackerell, 37th N. I. 
under Major Griffiths, 6th regiment of Shah's 
force under Capt. Hopkins. The whole issued 
from cantonments, a storming party consisting 
of two companies from each regiment taking 
the lead, preceded by Capt. Bellew, who hur- 
ried forward to blow open the gate. Missing 
the gate, however, he blew open a wicket of 
such small dimensions as to render it impossible 
for more than two or three men to enter abreast, 
and these in a stooping posture. This, it will 
be seen, was one cause of discomfiture in the 
first instance : for the hearts of the men failed 
them when they saw their foremost comrades 
struck down, endeavouring to force an entrance 
under such disadvantageous circumstances, 
without being able to help them. The signal, 
however, was given for the storming party, 
headed by Col. Mackerell. On nearing the 
wicket, the detachment encountered an exces- 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



17 



sively sharp fire from the walls, and the small 
passage, through which they endeavoured to 
rush in, merely served to expose the bravest to 
almost certain death from the hot fire of the 
defenders. Col. Mackerell, however, and Lieut. 
Bird of Shah's 6th infantry, accompanied by a 
handful of Europeans and a few Sepoys, forced 
their way in ; Capt. Westmacott of the 37th 
being shot down outside, and Capt. M'Crae 
sabred in the entrance. The garrison, supposing 
that these few gallant men were backed by the 
whole attacking party, fled in consternation out 
of the gate, which was on the opposite side of 
the fort, and which ought to have been the 
point assailed. Unfortunately, at this instant 
a number of the Afl^ghan cavalry charged round 
the corner of the fort next the wicket : the cry 
of " Cavalry !" was raised, a cry which too 
often, during our operations, paralyzed the arms 
of those, whose muskets and bayonets we have 
been accustomed to consider as more than a 
match for a desultory charge of irregular horse- 
men ; the Europeans gave way simultaneously 
with the Sepoys — a bugler of the 6th infantry, 
through mistake, sounded the retreat — and it 
became for the time a scene of sauve qui petit. 
In vain did the officers, especially Major Scott 
of H. M.'s 44tli, knowing the fearful predica- 
ment of his commanding officer, exhort and be- 
seech their men to charge forward — not a soul 
would follow them, save a private of the 44th 
named Steward, who was afterwards promoted 
for his solitary gallantry. Let me here do Bri- 
gadier Shelton justice : his acknowledged cou- 
rage redeemed the day ; for, exposing his own 
person to a hot fire, he stood firm amidst the 
crowd of fugitives, and by his exhortations and 
example at last rallied them; advancing again 
to the attack, again our men faltered, notwith- 
standing that the fire of the great guns from the 
cantonments, and that of Capt. Mackenzie's 
juzailchees from the N. E. angle of the Mission 
Compound, together with a demonstration on 
the part of our cavalry, had greatly abated the 
ardour of the Affghan horse. A third time did 
the Brigadier bring on his men to the assault, 
which now proved successful. We became 
masters of the fort. But what, in the mean- 
time, had been passing inside the fort, where, it 
will be remembered, several of our brave 
brethren had been shut up, as it were, in the 
lions' den 1 

On the first retreat of our men, Lieut. Bird, 
virith Col. Mackerell and several Europeans, 
had hastily shut the gate by which the garrison 
had for the most part evacuated the place, se- 
curing the chain with a bayonet: the repulse 
outside, however, encouraged the enemy to re- 
turn in great numbers, and, it being impossible 
to remain near the gate on account of the hot 
fire poured in through the crevices, our few 
heroes speedily had the mortification to see 
their foes not only re-entering the wicket,' but, 
having drawn the bayonet, rush in with loud 
shouts through the now re-opened gate. Poor 
Mackerell, having fallen, was literally hacked 

3 



to pieces, although still alive at the termination 
of the contest. Lieut. Bird, with two Sepoys, 
retreated into a stable, the door of which they 
closed ; all the rest of the men, endeavouring 
to escape through the wicket, were met and 
slaughtered. Bird's place of concealment at 
first, in the confusion, escaped the observation 
of the temporarily triumphant Affghans ; at 
last it was discovered, and an attack commenced 
at the door. This being barricaded with logs 
of wood, and whatever else the tenants of the 
stable could find, resisted their efforts, while 
Bird and his now solitary companion, a Sepoy 
of the 37th N. I. (the other having been struck 
down,) maintained as hot a fire as they could, 
each shot taking deadly effect from the proxi- 
mity of the party engaged. The fall of their 
companions deterred the mass of the assailants 
from a simultaneous rush, which must have 
succeeded ; and thus that truly chivalrous, high- 
minded, and amiable young gentleman, whose 
subsequent fate must be ranked among the mys- 
terious dispensations of Providence which we 
cannot for the present fathom, stood at bay with 
his equally brave comrade for upwards of a 
quarter of an hour, when, having only five car- 
tridges left, in spile of having rifled the pouch 
of the dead man, they were rescued as related 
above. Our troops literally found the pair 
" grim and lonely there," upwards of thirty of 
the enemy having fallen by their unassisted 
prowess. 

Our loss on this occasion was not less than 
200 killed and wounded. Four neighbouring 
forts were immediately evacuated by the enemy, 
and occupied by our troops : they were found 
to contain about 1400 maunds of grain ; in re- 
moving which no time was lost, but as it was 
not found practicable to bring off more than 
half before night-fall, Capti Boyd, the Assist.- 
Com.-Gen., requested Brig,;, Shelton that a guard 
might be thrown into a smali fort, where it must 
be left for the night; this was, however, refused, 
and on the following morning, as might have 
been expected, the grain was all gone : perma- 
nent possession was, however, taken of the Rika- 
bashee and Zulfekar forts^ the towers of the re- 
mainder being blown up on the following day. 

Numbers of Giljie horse and fool still main- 
taining their position on the Seeah Sung heights, 
Brig. Shelton moved his force towards that quar- 
ter. On reaching the base of the hill, fire was 
opened from the two H. A. guns, which, with 
the firm front presented by our troops, caused 
the enemy shortly to retire towards the city, 
and ere we turned homeward not a rnan re- 
mained in sight. 

November Vilh. The enemy appeared in 
great force on the western heights, where, 
having posted two guns, they fired into can- 
tonrrients with considerable precision. At the 
earnest entreaty of the Envoy, it was deter- 
mined that a party, under Brigadier Shelton, 
should sally forth to attack them, and, if possi- 
ble, capture their guns. The force ordered for 
this service was not ready until 3 p. si. It con- 



18 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



siated of the following troops: — 2 squadrons 
5lh Light Cavalry, under Col. Chambers; 1 
squadron Shah's 2d Irregular Horse, under 
Lieut. Le Geyt ; 1 troop of Skinner's Horse, 
under Lieut. Walker ; the Body Guard ; 6 com- 
panies her Majesty's 44tli, under Major Scott^ 
6 companies 37th, under Major Swayne; 4 com- 
panies Shah's 6th Infantry, under Capt. Hop- 
kins; and 1 H. A. gun and 1 Mountain Train 
do. under myself, escorted by a company of 6th 
Shah's under Capt. Marshall. After quitting 
cantonments, the troops took the direction of a 
gorge between the two hills bounding the plain, 
distant about a mile (the enemy's horse crown- 
ing that to the left,) and advanced in separate 
columns at so brisk a pace, that it seemed a 
race which should arrive first at the scene of 
action. The infantry had actually reached the 
foot of the hill, and were on the point of as- 
cending to the charge, ere the H. A. gun, which 
had been detained in the rear by sticking fast 
in a canal, could be got ready for action ; nor 
had more than one round of grape been fired, 
ere the advance, led on by the gallant Major 
Thain, had closed upon the foe, who resolutely 
stood their ground on the summit of the ridge, 
and unflinchingly received the discharge of our 
musketry, which, strange to say, even at the 
short range of ten or twelve yards, did little or 
no execution ! From this cause the enemy, 
growing bolder every moment, advanced close 
up to the bayonets of our infantry, upon whom 
they pressed so perseveringly, as to succeed in 
driving them backwards to the foot of the hill, 
vi?ounding Major Thain on the left shoulder, and 
sabring several of the men. Several rounds of 
grape and shrapnell were now poured in, and 
threw them into some confusion, whereupon a 
timely charge of .our cavalry, Anderson's horse 
taking the lead, drove them again up the hill, 
when our infantry once more advancing carried 
the height, the enemy retreating along the 
ridge, closely followed by our troops, and aban- 
doning their guns to us. The H. A. gun now 
took up a position in the middle of the gorge, 
whence it played with efl^ect on a large body of 
horse assembled on the plain west of the hill, 
who forthwith retreated to a distance. 

Our troops had now got into ground where 
it was impracticable for Horse-Artillery to fol- 
low. I accordingly pushed forward with one 
artillery-man and a supply of drag-ropes and 
spikes, to look out for the deserted guns of the 
enemy; one of these, a 4-pounder, was easily 
removed along the ridge by a party of the Shah's 
8th infantry ; but the other a 6-poander, was 
awkwardly situated in a ravine half way down 
the side of the hill, our troops, with the Moun- 
tain-Train 3-pounder, being drawn up along the 
ridge just above it. The evening was now fast 
closing in, and a large body of Aifghan infantry 
occupied some enclosures on the plain below, 
whence they kept up so hot a fire upon the gun, 
as to render its removal by no means an easy 
task ; but the Envoy having sent us a message 
of entreaty that no exertion might be spared to 



complete the triumph of the day by bringing off 
both the enemy's guns, Major Scott, of her 
Majesty's 44th, repeatedly called on his men to 
descend with him to drag the 6-pounder away ; 
but, strange to say, his frequent appeals to their 
soldierly feelings were made in vain : with a 
few gallant exceptions they remained immova- 
ble, nor could the Sepoys be induced to lead^lhe 
way where their European brethren so obsti- 
nately hung back. Meanwhile it became nearly 
dark, and the further detention of the troops being 
attended with risk, as the enemy, though driven 
from the hill, still maintained a threatening atti- 
tude below, I descended withtheHorse-Artillery 
gunner, and having driven in a spike, returned 
to assist in making sure of the captured 4-pound- 
er. This, from the steepness of the hill, and 
the numerous water-cuts which every where 
intersected the plain, proved a somewhat trou- 
blesome business. Lieut. Macg.rtney, however, 
with a company of the Shah's 6ili Infantry, 
urged on his men with zeal, and we at last had 
the satisfaction to deposit our prize safe within 
the cantonment gates. Meanwhile the enemy, 
favoured by the darkness, pressed hard upon 
our returning troops, and by dint of incessant 
firing and shouting rendered their homeward 
march somewhat disorderly, effecting, however, 
but little damage. 

It was no small disadvantage under which 
we laboured, that no temporary success of our 
troops over those of the enemy could be followed 
up, nor even possession be retained of the ground 
gained by us at the point of the bayonet, owing 
to the necessity of withdrawing our men into 
their quarters at night. On reaching the can- 
tonment, we found the garrison in a state of 
considerable alarm, and a continual blaze of 
musketry illuminating the whole line of ram- 
part. This had arisen from a demonstration of 
attack having been made by the enemy on the 
southwest bastion, which had been immediately 
checked by a few rounds of grape from the guns, 
and by a well-directed fire from the juzailchees 
under Capt. Mackenzie; but it was long ere 
quiet could be restored, the men continuing to 
discharge their pieces at they knew not what. 

Our infantry soldiers, both European and 
Native, might have taken a salutary lesson from 
the Afl^ghans in the use of their fire-arms; the 
latter invariably taking steady deliberate aim, 
and seldom throwing away a single shot; where- 
as our men seemed to fire entirely at random, 
without any aim at all ; hence the impunity with 
which the Afi'ghan horsemen braved the dis- 
charge of our musketry in this day's action 
within twelve yards, not one shot, to all appear- 
ance, taking effect. In this affair Capt. Paton, 
Assist.-Quart.-Mast.-Gen., had the misfortune to 
receive a wound in the left arm, which rendered 
amputation necessary, and the valuable services 
of one of our most efficient staff' officers were 
thus lost. This was the last success our arms 
were destined to experience. Henceforward it 
becomes my weary task to relate a catalogue of 
errors, disasters, and difficulties, which, follow- 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



19 



inor close upon each other, disgusted our officers, 
disheartened our soldiers, and finally sunk us all 
into irretrievable ruin, as though Heaven itself, 
by a combination of evil circumstances for its 
own inscrutable purposes, had planned our down- 
fall. But here it is fit I should relate the scenes 
that had all this while been enacting at our 
solitary outpost in Kohistan. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Events in Kohistan, as related by Major Pottinger. 
Treachery of the Nijrow Chiefs. Murder of Lieut. 
Rattray. Gallantry ol Lieut. Haughton. Attack by 
the enemy on the Charekar cantonment. Major 
Pottinger wounded. Death of Capt. Codrington. 
Deplorable scarcity of water. Disappearance of 
Dr. Grant. Retreat towards Cabul. Perils of Major 
Pottinger and Lieut. Haughton. They escape to 
Cantonment. 

On the 15th November, Major Pottinger, C. 
B. and Lieut. Haughton, Adjt. of the Shah's 
4th, or Goorkha regiment, came in from Chare- 
kar, both severely wounded, the former in the 
leg, and the latter having had his right hand 
amputated, besides several cuts in the neck and 
left arm. Their escape was wonderful. 

The following is an outline of what had taken 
place in Kohistan, from the commencement of 
the insurrection up to the present date. 

It appears, from Major Pottinger's account of 
the transactions of that period, that it was not 
without reason he had so urgently applied to 
Sir William Macnaghten for reinforcements. 
Towards the end of October, premonitory signs 
of the coming tempest had become so unequivo- 
cally threatening as to confirm Major Pottinger 
in his worst suspicions, and in his conviction 
that order could not possibly be restored without 
a departure on the part of government from the 
long-sufi'ering system which had been obsti- 
nately pursued with respect to Nijrow in par- 
ticular; but his conviction alone could do little 
to stem the torrent of coming events. 

About this time Meer Musjeedee, a contuma- 
cious rebel against the Shah's authority, who 
had been expelled from Kohistan during Gene- 
ral Sale's campaign in that country in 1840, and 
who had taken refuge in Nijrow after the 
fashion of many other men of similar stamp, 
obstinately refusing to make his submission to 
the Shah even upon the most favourable terms, 
openly put himself at the head of a powerful and 
well-organized party, with the avowed inten- 
tion of expelling the Feringeesand overturning 
the existing government. He was speedily 
joined by the most influential of the Nijrow 
chiefs. A few of these made their appearance 
before Lughmanee, where Major Pottinger 
resided, and proffered their services towards the 
maintenance of the public tranquillity. It will 
be seen that their object was the blackest 
treachery. 

I shall here relate Major Pottinger's story, 
almost in his own words, as given to me. 

In the course of the forenoon of the 3d of 
November, Major Pottinger had an interview 



with a "number of the more influential chiefs in 
his hou.se or fort, and, about noon, went into the 
garden to receive those of inferior rank, accom- 
panied by his visiters: here they were joined 
by Lieut. Charles Rattray, Major Pottinger's 
Assistant. In discussing the question of the re- 
wards to which their services might entitle 
them, the head man declared that, although they 
were willing to agree to Major Pottinger's pro- 
positions, they could not answer for their clans- 
men, and the above-mentioned petty chiefs, who 
were awaiting the expected conference at sonie 
little distance. Mr. Rattray, accordingly, in 
company with several of the principal, joined 
the latter, and, shortly after, proceeded with 
them to an adjoining field, where numbers of 
their armed retainers were assembled, for the 
purpose of ascertaining their sentiments on the 
subject of the conference. While thus engaged, 
this most promising and brave young officer ap- 
parently became aware of intended foul play, 
and turned to leave the field, when he was im- 
mediately shot down. At this time Major Pot- 
tinger was still sitting in his garden, in com- 
pany with several of the above-mentioned chiefs, 
and had just received intelligence of the pur- 
posed treachery from Mahomed Kasim Khan, a 
debashee of Hazirbash, a small detachment of 
which composed a part of his escort: he had 
with difficulty comprehended the man's mean- 
ing, which was conveyed by hints, when the 
sound of firing was heard : — the chiefs that were 
with him rose and fled, and he escaped into the 
fort by the postern gate ; which having secured, 
he, from the terre-plein of the rampart, saw 
poor Mr. Rattray lying badly wounded in the 
field at the distance of some 300 yards, and the 
late pretended negotiators making off in all di- 
rections with the plunder of the camp of the 
Hazirbash detachment. Of these plunderers a 
party passing close to Mr. Rattray, and observ- 
ing that life was not extinct, one of them put 
his gun close to his head, and blew his brains 
out, — several others discharging their pieces 
into different parts of his body. 

Major Pottinger's guard, being by this time 
on the alert, opened a fire, which speedily 
cleared the open space ; but the enemy, seeking 
shelter in the numerous watercourses, and under 
the low walls surrounding the fort, harassed 
them incessantly until the appearance of Lieut. 
Haughton, adjutant of the Goorkha regiment, 
who, advancing from Charekar, where the corps 
was cantoned, distanta bout three miles, speedily 
drove the assailants from their cover. Capt. 
Codrington, who commanded the regiment, 
chanced to be in Lughmanee at this very time; 
and, on Mr. Haughton's approach, he led out a 
sortie and joined him: the skirmish was sharp, 
and the enemy sufl^ered severely, Capt. Cod- 
rington remaining in possession of an adjacent 
canal, the bank of which was immediately cut, 
to supply the tank of the fort with water in case 
of accidents. 

The evening had now closed in, and the 
enemy had retired, taking up a position which 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL 



seemed to threaten the Charekar road.' Capt. 
Codrington accordingly left Lughmanee in haste, 
strengthening Major Pottinger's party to about 
100 men, these having to garrison four small 
forts. He promised, however, to relieve them 
the next morning, and to send a further supply 
of ammunition, of which there only remained 
1500 rounds. Capt. Codrington reached Chare- 
kar unmolested; and the enemy, returning to 
their former point of attnck, carried off their dead 
with impunity, the garrison being too weak to 
make a sally. On the morning of the 4th, Capt. 
Codrington despatched four companies with a 
six-pounder gun, according to promise. Their 
march caused numbers of the enemy now as- 
sembled on all sides to retreat; but one lar^e 
body remained in position on the skirts of the 
mountain range to their right, and threatened 
their flank. Mr. Haughton, who commanded, 
detached Ensign Salisbury with a company to 
disperse them, which, in spite of the disparity of 
numbers, was effected in good style. Unhappily 
the Goorkhas, being young soldiers, and-flushed 
with success, pressed forward in pursuit with 
too much eagerness, regardless of the recalling 
bugle, when at last Mr. Salisbury with difficulty 
halted them, and endeavoured to retrace his 
steps. The enemy, observing the error they 
had committed in separating themselves too far 
from their main body, rallied and followed them 
in their retreat so closely, as to oblige Mr. 
Salisbury to halt his little band frequently, and 
face about. Mr. Haughton, consequently, in 
order to extricate the compromised company, 
halted his convoy, and despatched the greatest 
part of his men in the direction of the skirmish. 
All this encouraged the other parties of the 
enemy who had retired to return, against whom, 
in numbers not less than 4000 men, Mr. Haugh- 
ton maintained his ground until rejoined by his 
subaltern, when, seeing the hopelessness of 
making good his way to Lughmanee, he re- 
treated, and regained in safety the fortified bar- 
racks at Charekar. Many of the men fell in 
this expedition, which would have proved in- 
finitely more disastrous, from the number of the 
enemy's cavalry, who latterly seemed to gain 
confidence at (ivery stage, but for the extraordi- 
nary gallantry and conduct of Mr. Haughton, 
who with a handful of men and a gun, protected 
the rear of our over-matched troops. Mr. Salis- 
bury was mortally wounded, and the trail of the 
gun gave way just as the party reached Chare- 
kar. 

This disappointment led Major Pottinger to 
believe that no second attempt would be made 
to relieve them ; and as he had no ammuni- 
tion beyond the supply in the men's pouches, he 
determined to retreat on Charekar after dark: 
the better to hide his intention, he ordered grain 
to be brought into the fort. Meantime the 
Charekar cantonment was attacked on all sides, 
and in the afternoon large bodies of the enemy 
were detached thence, and joining others from 
thtit part of the valley, recommenced their in- 
vestment of Lughmanee. That part of the 



Major's garrison which occupied the small fort 
to the east of the principal one, defended by 
himself, although their orders were not to vacate 
their posts until after dark, being panic-stricken, 
did so at once, gaining the stronger position, but 
leaving behind several wounded comrades and 
their havildar, who remained staunch to hisduty : 
these, however, were brought off. Major Pot- 
tinger then strengthened the garrison of a 
cluster of adjacent huts, which, being surrounded 
by a sort of rude fortification, formed a tolerably 
good outwork ; but the want of European ofli- 
cers to control the men was soon lamentably 
apparent, and in a short time the Goorkhas, 
headed by their native officer, abandoned the 
hamlet, followed as a matter of course by the 
few Affghan soldiers attached to Capt. Codring- 
ton's person, who had remained faithful until 
then. This last misfortune gave the enemy 
cover up to the very gate of the stronghold, and 
before dark they had succeeded in getting pos- 
session of a gun-shed built against its outer 
wall, whence they commenced mining. 

As soon as night had fairly closed in, Major 
Pottinger drew together the Goorkha garrison 
outside the postern gate, under pretence of 
making a sortie, and thus separated them from 
the Aftghans and their followers, who remained 
inside; he then marched for Charekar, the gar- 
rison of the remaining fort joining him as he 
drew on ; he passed by the investmg posts in 
perfect silence, taking his route along the skirts 
of the mountains to avoid the main road, and 
arrived in safety at Charekar. In Lughmanee 
he abandoned the hostages whom he had taken 
from the Kohistan chiefs, two boxes of treasure 
containing 2000 rupees, about sixty stand of 
juzails, all his office records, Mr. Rattray's, Dr. 
Grant'.s, and his own personal property, and a 
nutnber of horses belonging to himself and the 
above-mentioned two officers, and to some horse- 
men who had not deserted — for the greater part 
of his mounted escort had fled in the beginning 
of the affray. The Hcratees, and seven or eight 
Peshawarees, were the only Affghans who ad- 
hered to him : the Cabulees, had deserted to a 
man, immediately on the murder of Mr. Rattray; 
they had been much disgusted the preceding 
month, as well as their comrades who proved 
unfaithful too, by the sudden reduction of a por- 
tion of his escort, which naturally led them to 
apprehend that their livelihood from the British 
service was of a precarious nature. 

On the morning of 5th Nov. large bodies of 
the enemy closed in round the Charekar bar- 
racks, and about 7 o'clock they attacked the out- 
posts with a spirit engendered by the success of 
the preceding evenihg. Capt. Codrington re- 
quested Major Pottinger to take charge of what 
artillery he had, and to move a squadron in sup- 
port of the skirmishers, which he did. The 
skirmishers were driven in, and, while retreat- 
ing, Major Pottinger was wounded in the leg 
by a musket-shot. Encouraged by this, and by 
the unfinished slate of the works round the 
barracks, in the entrance of which there was 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



8|- 



no gate, the enemy advanced with great deter- 
mination to the attack, and dislodged the Goork- 
has from some mud huts outside, which were 
still occupied by a part of the regiment. In 
this attliir Capt. Codrington, an officer of whose 
merits it is difficult to speak too highly, fell mor- 
tally wounded. The main post was, however, 
successfully defended, and the enemy driven 
back with considerable loss; upon which Mr. 
Haughton (who had now succeeded to the com- 
mand, the only remaining officer being Mr. 
Rose, a mere youth,) made a sortie and drove 
the enemy out of the gardens occupied by them 
in the morning, maintaining his ground against 
their most desperate efforts until after dark. 
Relief was then sent to the garrison (consisting 
of about 50 men) of Khaja Meer's fort, which it 
had been found expedient to occupy previously, 
because it commanded the interior of the bar- 
racks on the southern side. 

From this time the unfortunate horses and 
cattle of the garrison were obliged to endure the 
extremity of thirst, there being no water for 
them, and the supply for even the fighting men 
scanty in the extreme, obtained only from a few- 
pools in the ditch of the rampart, which had 
been formed by a seasonable fall of rain. Dur- 
ing the 6th the enemy renewed their attack in 
augmented numbers, the whole population of 
the country apparently swarming to the scene 
of action. Notwithstanding two successful 
sorties, all the outposts were driven in by dark, 
and thenceforth the garrison was confined to 
the barrack itself. 

On the 7th the enemy got possession of Khoja 
Meer's fort: the regimental moonshee had been 
gained over, and through him the native officer 
was induced to surrender. From the towers of 
that fort, on the 8th, the enemy offered terms, 
on the condition that all the infidels should em- 
brace Mahomedanism. Major Pottinger replied, 
that they had come to aid a Mahomedan sove- 
reign in the recovery of his rights ; that they 
consequently were within the pale of Islam, and 
exempt from coercion on the score of religion. 
The enemy rejoined, that the King himself had 
ordered them to attack the Kaffirs, and wished 
to know if Major Pottinger would yield on re- 
ceiving an order. He refused to do so, except 
on the production of a written document. All 
this time the garrison was sorely galled from 
the post of vantage in possession of the enemy. 

On the 9th, the enemy were enabled by the 
carelessness of the guard to blow up a part of 
the south-west tower of the barracks ; but, be- 
fore they could profit by the breach and the 
panic of the men, Mr. Haughton rallied the 
fugitives, and, leading them back, secured the 
top of the parapet wall with a barricade of boards 
and sandbags. 

On the 10th, the officers drew their last pool 
of water, and served out haJf a wineglass to 
each fighting man. 

On the 11th, all could not share even in that 
miserable proportion, and their sufferings from 
thirst were dreadful. During the night a sortie 



was made, and some of the followers brought in 
a little water from a distant place, the sio-ht of 
which only served to aggravate the disir'ess of 
the majority ; still, however, the fortitude of 
these brave and hardy soldiers remained un- 
shaken, although apathy, the result of intense 
suffering, especially among the Hindoos, began 
to benumb their faculties. 

On the 12th, after dark, Mr. Haughton or- 
dered out a party to cover the water-carriers in 
an attempt to obtain a supply; but the over- 
harassed JSepoys, unable to restrain themselves, 
dashed out of the ranks on approaching the 
coveted element, instead of standing to their 
arms to repel the enemy, and, consequently, the 
expedition fiiiled in its object. Another sortie, 
consisting of two companies under Ensign Rose, 
was then ordered out, one of which," having 
separated from the other, dispersed in search of 
water; that under Mr. Rose himself fell on a 
post of the besiegers, every man of which they 
bayoneted ; but, being unaccountably struck 
with a panic, the men fled back to the barracks, 
leaving Mr. Rose almost alone, who was then 
obliged to return, having accomplished his ob- 
ject but partially. These circumstances were 
communicated by Mr. Haughton to Major Pot- 
tinger (whose wound had" disabled him from 
active bodily co-operation in these last events), 
together with the startling intelligence, that the 
corps was almost wholly disorganized from the 
large amount of killed and wounded, the hard- 
ships it had undergone, the utler inefficiency of 
the native officers, who had no sort of control 
over the soldiers, the exhaustion of the men 
from constant duty, and the total want of water 
and provisions. 

Relief from Cabul, for which Major Pottinger 
had written repeatedly, seemed now hopeless^ 
and an attempt at protracted defence of the post 
appeared likely to ensure the destruction of its 
brave defenders. Major Pottinger considered 
that the only remaining chance of saving any 
portion of the regiment was a retreat to Cabul; 
and, although that was abundantly perilous^ he 
entertained a hope that a few of the most active 
men who were not encumbered with wives and 
children might escape. Then was felt most bit- 
terly, the impolicy of the encouragement which 
had been held out to all the recruits to bring- 
their families with them, on what, even at the 
time of their being raised, was looked on by the 
most able officers as likely to prove a campaign 
of several years. Mr. Haughton coincided in 
the Major's views, and it was agreed, to ensure 
secrecy, that the men should not he informed of 
their intentions until paraded for the march. 

This wretched state of things continued until 
the afternoon of the 13th, when Mr. Haughton 
discovered amongst the Punjabee artillery-men 
two who had deserted a few days previously^ 
and who apparently had returned for the pur- 
pose of seducing their comrades. He imme- 
diately seized them ; but, while he was in the 
act of their apprehension, the jemadar of the ar- 
tillery, himself a Punjabee Mussulman, snatcheci 



22 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



a sword from a bystander, and cut down that 
officer, repeating bis blows as he lay on the 
ground. IBefbre the astonished Goorkbas could 
draw their knives or handle their muskets, this 
miscreant, followed by all the artillery-men and 
the greater number of the Mahomedans in the 
barracks, rushed out of the gate and escaped. 
The tumult and confusion occasioned by this 
impressed Major Pottinger with the idea that 
the enemy bad driven the men from the walls; 
under this impression, he caused himself to be 
carried to the main gate, but on his arrival he 
found that Dr. Grant had secured that point, and 
rallied the men. Tiie native officers immediately 
gathered round him, with many of the Sepoys, 
to assert their fidelity ; but demoralization bad 
evidently progressed fearfully, as may be judged 
from the fact that the garrison had plundered 
the treasure and the quarters of the deceased 
Capt. Codrington the instant the Major had left 
them, and that in the face of the enemy's fire 
Ihey had pulled down the officers' boxes, which 
had been piled up as traverses to protect the 
doorway, broken them open, and pillaged them. 
Dr. Grant then amputated Mr. Haughton's right 
hand, and hastily dressed the severe wounds 
which he had received in bis left arm and on 
his neck. In the evening the doctor spiked all 
the guns with his own hands, and the garrison 
then left the barracks by the postern gate. The 
advance was led by Major Pottinger (Mr. 
Haugbton, who accompanied him, being unable 
to do more than sit passively on his horse,) Dr. 
Grant brought out the main body, and Ensign 
Rose, with the Quart.-Mast.-Serjt., commanded 
the rear. 

Notwithstanding the previous suffi3rings of 
these unfortunate men, it may be said that here 
commenced their real disasters. In vain did 
Major Pottinger attempt to lead his men to 
seize a building generally occupied by the enemy 
after nightfall, by the possession of which the 
exit of the main body from the barracks might 
be covered. In fact it was with much difficulty 
that he eventually succeeded in halting them at 
about half a mile from the barraciis until the 
main body and rear should close up. The men 
were naturally occupied entirely with their 
families, and such property as it had been im- 
possible to prevent their bringing away ; and 
discipline, the only source of hope under such 
circumstances, was at an end. 

After the junction of the main body and rear. 
Dr. Grant suddenly disappeared, and was not 
afterwards seen. 

The regiment then proceeded along the road 
to Sinjit burrah, where Major Pottinger knew 
that water could be procured. On reaching the 
first stream, the last remnant of control over 
this disorderly mob was lost; much delay took 
place, and, in moving on, the advance became 
suddenly separated from the main body. After 
an anxious search Major Pottinger effected a 
rejunction. 

At Sinjit Durrah they quitted the road to 
avoid alarming the villages and any outposts , 



that might be stationed there ; and much time 
was lost in regaining the track from the other 
side : at Istalif the same manoeuvre was prac- 
tised. Major Pottinger now found very few 
inclined to push on; exhaustion from the pain 
of his wound precluded the possibility of his 
being of any further use as a leader ; and he 
determined to push on with Mr. Haughton 
towards Cabul, although with faint hope that 
the strength 6f either would prove adequate to 
the exertion. Having no guide, they got into 
many difficulties; and day was breaking by the 
time they reached the range of mountains half 
way between Charekar and Cabul. Men and 
horses were by this time incapable of fiirther 
endurance: the latter, it must be remembered, 
bad been ten days without water previously to 
starting, and five days without food ; they were 
still upwards of twenty, miles from any place of 
safety ; their sufferings from their wounds, fa- 
tigue, hunger, and thirst, made life a burden, 
and at this time despair had almost obtained a 
victory — but God sustained them. By Mr. 
Haughton's advice they sought shelter in a 
very deep but dry ravine, close to a small vil- 
lage, hoping that their proximity to danger 
might prove a source of safety ; as it was pro- 
bable that the inhabitants, who by this time 
must have been on the alert, would scarcely ■ 
think of looking for their prey close to their own 
doors. The companions of Major Pottinger and 
Mr. Haughton were a sepoy of the regiment, 
a moonshee, and the regimental buniah. 

In the forenoon they were alarmed by a firing 
on the mountains above them ; the cause of this, 
as it appeared afterwards, was that a few of the 
fugitive Goorkbas had ascended the hills for 
safety (which, indeed, it was Major Pottinger's 
wish to do, until he yielded to the arguments 
of his companion), whither they were pursued 
and massacred by the country people. The 
rest of the day passed in tranquillity; and 
again, under the friendly shroud of darkness, 
having previously calculated their exact posi- 
tion, did this sorely-bestead little party resume 
their dangerous route. It was providential that 
Major Pottinger had, from his habits as a tra- 
veller through unknown and difficult regions, 
accustomed himself to ascertain and remember 
the bearings of the most conspicuous landmarks 
of the countries he traversed ; it was therefore 
comparatively easy for him to lead the way over 
the steep and rugged peaks, by which alone 
they might hope to find a safe path, — for the 
main road, and even the more accessible tracks 
across the tops of the mountains, were closely 
beset, and watch-fires gleamed in all directions. 
Indeed Gliolam-Moyun-ood-deer, a distinguished 
partisan in the service of the rebels, had been 
despatched from Cabul, with a number of his 
most active followers, purposely to intercept 
and seize the Major, of whose flight intelligence 
had been early received, and actually was at 
that time patrolling those very heights over 
which the fugitives passed. But the protecting 
hand of Providence was displayed not only ia 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



2S 



leading them unharmed through the midst of 
their enemies, but in supplying them with men- 
tal fortitude and bodily strength. Weak and ex- 
hausted, their hardy and usually sure-footed 
Toorkman horses could scarcely strain up the 
almost impracticable side of the mountain, or 
preserve their equilibrium in the sharp sudden 
descents which they encountered, for path there 
was none. On one occasion Mr. Haughton. 
whose desperate wounds I have' already de- 
scribed, fell off, and, being unable to rise, de- 
clared his determination of awaiting his fate 
where he lay. The Major refused to desert 
him, and both slept fur about one hour, when, 
nature being a little restored, they pushed on 
until they descended into the plain of Alifat, 
which they crossed, avoiding the fort of that 
name, and, struggling up the remaining ridge 
that separated them from the plain of Cabul, 
they entered it by the southern end of the Cabul 
lake. Intending now to cross the cultivation, 
and to reach cantonments by the back of the 
Shah's garden. Major Pottinger missed his road 
close to Kiia-i-bolund, and found himself within 
the enemy's sentries ; but being unwilling to 
alarm them by retracing his steps, alter dit^co- 
vering his mistake, he led the way towards 
Deh x'iffohan. Here they were challenged by 
various outposts, to whom they answered after 
the fashion of Affghan horsemen ; but they 
were compelled, in order to avoid suspicion, 
actually to enter the city of Cabul, their only 
hope now being in the slumberous security of 
the inhabitants at that hour (it being now about 
3 A. M.), and in the protection of their Aftghan 
dress and equipments. The Goorkha sepoy, 
who, strange to .say, had kept up with them on 
foot, had his outward man concealed by a large 
postheen, or sheepskin cloak. They pursued 
their way through the lanes and bazar of the 
city, without any interruption, except the occa- 
sional gruff challenge of a sleepy watchman, 
until they gained the skirts of the city. There 
they were like to have been stopped by a picket 
which lay between them and the cantonment. 
The disposition to a relaxation of vigilance as 
the morning approaches, which marks the Af- 
ghan soldier, again befriended them ; they had 
nearly passed the post before they were pur- 
sued. Desperation enabled them to urge their 
wearied horses into a pace which barely gave 
them the advantage over their enemies, who 
were on foot ; and they escaped with a volley 
from the now aroused picket, the little Goorkha 
freshening his way in the most surprising man- 
ner, considering his previous journey. A few 
hundred yards further brought them within the 
ramparts of our cantonment, where they were 
received by their brethren in arms as men risen 
from the dead. 



CHAPTER V. 

Removal from cantonment to Bala Hissar discussed. 
'J'he idea abandoned. General Sale's return imprac- 
ticable. Malmiood Khan's lort — annoyance from 
it — but left in enemy's possession. Letier from the 
Envoy lo the General. Unprofitable operations at 
the village of Beymaroo. Arrival of JViahomed 
Akber Khan at Cabul. 

November 16th. — The impression made on 
the enemy by the action of the 13th was so far 
salutary, that they did not venture to annoy us 
again lor several days. Advantage was taken 
of this respite to throw magazine supplies from 
time to time into the Bala Hissar, a duty which 
was ably performed by Lieut. Walker, with a 
resalah of irregular horse under cover of night. 
But even in this short interval of comparative 
rest, such was the wretched construction of the 
cantonment, that the mere ordinary routine of 
garrison duty, and the necessity of closely 
manning our lung line of rampart both by day 
and night, was a severe trial to the health and 
patience of the troops ; especially now that the 
winter began to show symptoms of unusual 
severity. There seemed, indeed, every proba- 
bility of an early fall of snow, to which all 
looked forward with dread, as the harbinger of 
fresh difficulties and of augmented suffering. 

These considerations, and the manifest supe- 
riority of the Bala Hissar as a military position, 
led to the early discussion of the expediency of 
abandoning the cantonment and consolidating 
our forces in the above-mentioned stronghold. 
The Envoy himself was, from the first, greatly 
in favour of this move, until overrulea by the 
many objections urged against it by the military 
authorities; to which, as will be seen by a letter 
from him presently quoted, he learned by de- 
grees to attach some weight himself; but to 
the very last it was a measure that had many 
advocate.^ and I venture to state my own firm 
belief that, had we at this time moved' into the 
Bala Hissar, Cabul would have been still in our 
possession. The chief objections urged were, 
1st, the difficulty of conveying our sick and 
wounded; 2dly, the want of firewood ; 3dly, the 
want of forage for the cavalry; 4thly, the tri- 
umph that our abandonment of cantonments 
would afibrd the enemy ; 5thly, the risk of 
defeat on the way thither. On the other hand 
it was advanced, 1st, that, though to carry the 
sick would be difficult, it still was not impos- 
sible ; for ?o short a distance two, or even 
three, men could be conveyed on each doolie ; 
Fome might manage to walk, and the rest could 
be mounted on the yaboos and camels, on top of 
their loads ; 2d!y, although wood was scarce in 
the Bala Hissar, there was enough fur purposes 
of cooking, and for the want of fires the troops 
would be amply compensated by the compara- 
tive ease and comfort they would enjoy in other 
respects; 3dly, the horses must, in the case of 
there being no forage, have been shot; but the 
want of cavalry would have been little felt in 
such a situation ; 4th]y, as we should have 
destroyed all that was valuable before leaving. 



m 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



the supposed triumph of the enemy would have 
been very short-lived, and would soon have 
given way to a feeling of disappointment at 
the valueless nature of their acquisition, and of 
dismay at the strength and security of our new 
position; Sthly, the distance did not exceed 
two miles, and one half of that distance was 
protected by the guns of the Bala Hissar. 

If we had occupied the Seeah Sung hills 
with a strong party, placing guns there to 
sweep the plain on the cantonment side, the 
enemy could have done little to impede our 
march, without risking a battle with our whole 
force in a fair field, to which they were gene- 
rally averse, but which would, perhaps, have 
been the best mode for us of deciding the 
struggle. 

To remove so large a force, clogged with so 
many thousands of camp followers, without loss 
of some kind, was, of course, next to impos- 
sible; but ought such considerations to have 
interfered with a step which would have been 
attended in the long run with such great mili- 
tary and political advantages'? Our troops, 
once collected in the Bala Hissar, could have 
been spared for offensive operations against the 
city and the neighbouring forts, by which means 
plenty of food and forage would in all proba- 
bility have been readily procured, while the 
commanding nature of the position would have 
caused the enemy to despair of driving us out, 
and a large party would probably have been ere 
long formed in our favour. Such were the 
chief arguments employed on either side; but 
Brigadier Shelton having firmly set his face 
against the movement from the first moment of 
its proposition, all serious idea of it was gra- 
dually abandoned, though it continued to the 
very last a subject of common discussion. 

November \8th. — Accounts were this day re- 
ceived from Jellalabad, that Gen. Sale, having 
sallied from the town, had repulsed the enemy 
with considerable loss. At the beginning of 
the insurrection. Gen. Sale's brigade was at 
■Gundamuk ; and I have already mentioned, that 
an order recalling it to Cabul was immediately 
■despatched by the Envoy. Gen. Sale, on re- 
ceipt of it summoned a council of war, by whom 
it was unanimously agreed to be impracticable 
to obey the order. The circumstances of his 
inarch to Jellalabad are already well known to 
the public. The hope of his return had tended 
much to support our spirits; our disappointment 
was therefore great to learn that all expectation 
of aid from that quarter was at an end. Our eyes 
were now turned towards the Candahar force 
as our last resource, though an advance from 
that quarter seemed scarcely practicable so late 
in the year. 

Much discussion took place this evening re- 
garding the expediency of taking JVlahmood 
Khan's fort. There were many reasons to urge 
in favour of making the attempt. It was one 
of the chief resorts of the rebels during the day, 
and they had established a battery of two guns 
under the walls, from which they constantly 



fired upon our foraging parties, and upon the 
southeast bastion of cantonments. It was about 
900 yards distant from our rampart, which was 
too far for breaching with the 9-pounders; but 
a dry canal, which ran towards it in a zigzag 
direction, afforded facilities for a regular ap- 
proach within 300 yards, of which advantage 
might have been taken to enable the artillery to 
make a breach. Secondly, this fort commanded 
the road all the way up to the Bala Hissar, and 
the possession of it would at once have secured 
to us an easy communication with that place, 
and with the city. Thirdly, the Envoy de- 
clared his opinion that the moral effect derived 
from its possession would be more likely to 
create a diversion in our favour than any other 
blow we could strike, as the Affghans had al- 
ways attached great importance to its occupa- 
tion. These considerations had decided the 
General in favour of making the attempt this 
very night, by blowing open the gate, and 
a storming party was actually warned for the 
dut}^, when Lieut Sturt, the engineer officer, 
raising some sudden objection, the plan was 
given up, and never afterwards resumed by the 
militarjf. It was, however, the cause of no 
small astonishment to the officers in the Bala 
Hissar, who, from their commanding situation, 
could observe all that took place on both sides, 
that Mahmood Khan's fort should have been 
suffered to remain in the hands of the enemy, 
though at night it v/as oftened garrisoned by a 
mere handful of men. This fort, nevertheless 
gave abundant occupation to the artillery, who, 
when nothing else was going on, were fre- 
quently employed in disturbing the enemy in 
that quarter with one of the iron 9-pounders, 
and an occasional shelling from the mortar. 

November 19th. — A letter was this day re- 
ceived by the General from the Envoy to the 
following effect: — "That, all hope of assistance 
from Jellalabad being over, it behoved us to 
take our future proceedings into consideration. 
He himself conceived it our imperative duty to 
hold on as long as possible in our present posi- 
tion, and he thought we might even struggle 
through the whole winter by making the Ma- 
homedans and Christians live chiefly upon flesh, 
supposing our supplies of grain to fail; by 
which means, as the essentials of wood and 
water were abundant, he considered our posi- 
tion might be rendered impregnable. A re- 
treat towards Jellalabad would teem not only 
with disaster, but dishonour, and ought not to 
be contemplated until the very last extremity. 
In eight or ten days we should be better able to 
judge whether such extremity should be re- 
sorted to. In that case, we should have to 
sacrifice not only the valuable property of Go- 
vernment, but his majesty Shah Shoojah, to 
support whose authority we were employed by 
Government; and even were we to make good 
our retreat to Jellalabad, we should have no 
shelter for our troops, and our camp followers 
would all be sacrificed. He had frequently 
thought of negotiating, but there was no party 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



25 



of sufBcient power and influence to protect us. 
Another alternative would be to throw ourselves 
into the Bala Hissar ; but he feared that would 
be also a disastrous retreat, to effect which much 
property must be necessarily sacrificed. Our 
heavy guns might be turned against us, and 
food and fuel might be scarce, for a further sup- 
ply of which we might be dependent on sorties 
into the city, in which, if beaten, we must of 
course be ruined. On the whole, he was de- 
cidedly of opinion that we should hold out ; it 
was still possible that i-einforcements might 
arrive IVom Candahar, or something might turn 
up in our favour ; there were hopes, too, that, 
on the setting in of winter, the enemy would 
disperse. He had been long disposed to recom- 
mend a blow being struck to retrieve our for- 
tunes, such as taking Mahmood Khan's fort ; 
but he had since reason to believe this would 
not answer. In eight or ten days, he concluded, 
it would remain for the military authorities to 
determine whether there was any chance of 
improving our position, and to decide whether 
it would be more prudent to attempt a retreat 
to Jellalabad, or to the Bala Hissar. If provi- 
sion sufficient for the winter could be procured, 
on no account would he leave the canton- 
ment." 

November 22d. — -The village of Beymaroo 
(or " husbandless" from a beautiful virgin who 
was buried there) was situated about half a 
mile to the north of cantonments, on the Ko- 
histan road, at the northeast extremity of a hill 
which bounded the plain to the west. As it 
was built on a slope, and within musket-shot, 
the upper houses commanded a large portion of 
the Mission Compound. From this village we 
for a long time drew supplies, the Envoy largely 
bribing the proprietor, to which, however, the 
enemy in some measure put a stop by taking 
possession of it every day. 

This morning, large bodies of Affghan horse 
and foot, having again issued from the city, 
proceeded to crown the summit of the above- 
mentioned hill. It was determined, at the 
recommendation of the Envoy, to send a party 
of our troops to forestall the enemy in the occu- 
pation of the village ; and Major Swayne, 5th 
N. I., was appointed tothat duty , with a detach- 
ment composed as follows: — a Wing 5th N. I., 
2 Rosalias Irregular Horse, 1 Resalla5th Light 
Cavalry, and one Mountain-train gun. The 
party had already reached the village, when it 
was deemed proper to send after it a Horse Ar- 
tillery gun, which 1 was requested by the Gene- 
ral to accompany. Major Swayne, however, it 
would seem by his own account, found the vil- 
lage already occupied by a body of Kohistanees, 
and the entrance blocked up in such a manner 
that he considered it out of his power to force a 
passage. On arriving at the place with the H. 
A. gun, I found him in an orchard on the road- 
side, the trees of which partially protected the 
men from a very sharp fire, poured in amongst 
them from the houses. There being no shelter 
for the gun here, nor any mode of employing it 



to advantage, it was ordered to cross some fields 
to the right, and take up a position where it 
could best fire upon the village, and upon the 
heights above it, which were now crowded with 
the enemy's infantry. In order to protect the 
horses, I drew up the gun near the fort of 
Zoolfa Khan, under the walls of which they had 
shelter ; but for the gun itself no other position 
could be found than in the open field, where it 
was exposed to the full fire of the enemy posted 
in the village and behind the neighbouring walls. 
The Mountain-train gun was also with me, and 
boih did some execution among the people on 
the summit of the hill, though to little purpose. 

Major Swayne, whose orders were to storm 
the village, would neither go forward nor retire ; 
but, concealing his men under the cover of some 
low walls, he all day long maintained an useless 
fire on the houses of Beymaroo, without the 
slightest satisfactory result. The cavalry were 
drawn up in rear of the gun on the open plain, 
as a conspicuous mark for the Kohistanees, and 
where, as there was nothing for them to do, 
they accordingly did nothing. Thus we re- 
mained for five or six hours, during which time 
the artillery stood exposed to the deliberate aim 
of the numerous marksmen who occupied the 
village and its immediate vicinity, whose bullets 
continually sang in our ears, often striking the 
gun, and grazing the ground on which we stood. 
Only two gunners, however, out of six were 
wounded, but the cavalry in our rear had many 
casualties both among men and horses. 

Late in the evening, a party of Affghan horse, 
moving round from behind Beymaroo, proceeded 
towards a fort in our rear, whence a cross fire 
was opened upon us. Brigadier Shelton now 
joined, bringing with him a reinforcement from 
the 5th N. I., under Col. Oliver. Major 
Swayne, with two companies, was then sent to 
reconnoitre the fort whence the fire proceeded, 
and the H. A. gun was at the same time moved 
round, so as to bear upon the Affghan cavalry, 
who hovered among the trees in the same quar- 
ter. While engaged in this operation, I re- 
ceived a bullet through the left hand, which for 
the present terminated my active services. 
Shortly after this the troops were recalled into 
cantonments. 

It is worthy of note, that Mahomed Akber 
Khan, second son of the late Ameer Dost Ma- 
homed Khan, arrived in Cabul this night from 
Bameean. This man was destined to exercise 
an evil influence over our future fortunes. The 
crisis of our struggle was already nigh at hand. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A second expedition to Beymaroo. Increasing num- 
bers and vigilance of the enemy. Our force driven 
back with severe loss. Observations. 

November 23c/.— This day decided the fate 
of the Cabul force. At a council held at the 
General's house on the night of the 22d it was 
determined, on the special recommendation of 



26 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



the Envoy, that in consequence of the inconve- 
nience sustained by the enemy so frequently 
taking possession of Beymaroo, and interrupting 
our foraging parties, a force, under Brigadier 
Shelton, should on the following morning take 
the village by assault, and maintain the hill 
above it against whatever number of the enemy 
might appear. Accordingly, at 2 a. m. the un- 
der-mentioned troops* moved out of canton- 
ments in perfect silence by the Kohistan gate, 
and skirting the musjed immediately opposite, 
which was held by a company of Her Majesty's 
44th, look the direction of the gorge at the fur- 
ther extremity of the Beymaroo hill, which they 
ascended, dragging the gun to the top with 
great difficulty, from the rugged and steep 
nature of the side, which labour was greatly 
facilitated by the exertions of 200 commissariat 
snrwoons, who had volunteered for the occasion. 
The whole force then moved to the knoll at the 
N. E. extremity of the hill, which overhung the 
village of Beymaroo. The gun was placed in 
position commanding an enclosure in the village, 
which, from its fires, was judged to be the prin- 
cipal bivouac of the enemy, and a sharp fire of 
grape commenced, which evidently created 
great confusion, but it was presently answered 
by a discharge of juzails ; the enemy forsaking 
the open space, and covering themselves in the 
houses and towers : to this we replied in the in- 
tervals of the cannonade by discharges of mus- 
ketry. It was suggested by Capt. Bellew and 
otliers to Brigadier Shelton to storm the village, 
while the evident panic of the enemy lasted, 
under cover of the darkness, there being no 
moon : to this the Brigadier did not accede. 

When the day broke, parties of the enemy 
were descried hurrying from the village, and 
taking across the plain towards the distant fort, 
their fire having previously slackened from the 
failure of their ammunition. At this time, cer- 
tainly, not above 40 men remained in the vil- 
lage. A storming party, consisting of 2 com- 
panies 37lh N. I. and some Europeans, under 
Majors Swayne and Kershaw, were ordered to 
carry the village; but Major Swayne, taking a 
wrong direction, missed the principal entrance, 
which was open, and arrived at a small kirkhee, 
or wicket, which was barricaded, and which he 
had no means of forcing, so that he was obliged 
to cover himself and his men as well as he 
could from the sure aim of the enemy's marks- 
men, by whose fire his party suffered considera- 
bly, himself being shot through the neck. 

After remaining thus for about half an hour, 
he was recalled by the Brigadier, who observed 
large bodies of armed men pouring out from the 
city towards the scene of conflict. Meanwhile 

* 1 H. A. gun, under Sergt. Mulhal. 5 Cos. H. 
M. 44th, under Capt. Leighton. 6 Cos. 5th N. I., 
under Lieut.-Col. Oliver. 6. Cos. 37th N. I., under 
Major Kershaw, H. M. 13th. Sappers, 100 men, 
under Lieut. Laing. 1 Squadron 5th Lt. Cav., 
under Capt. Bott. 1 Ditto Irregular Horse, under 
Lieut. Walker. 100 men, Anderson's Horse. 



Lieut. Walker had been directed to lead his 
irregular horse down into the plain on the west 
side of the hill, to cut off" such fugitives from 
the village as he might be able to intercept, and 
to cover himself from the fire of infantry under 
the walls of an old fort not far from the base of 
the hill. Brigadier Shelton, leaving three com- 
panies of the 37th N. I. on the knoll above Bey- 
maroo as a reserve, under Major Kershaw, 
moved back with the troops and guns to the 
part of the hill which overlooked the gorge. 

Shortly after this it was suggested to raise a 
sunga, or stone breastwork, for the protection 
of the troops wholly exposed to the distant fire 
of the enemy's juzails; but this proposition was 
not acted on. Immense numbers of the enemy, 
issuing from the city, had now crowned the 
summits of the hill opposite the gorge, — in all, 
probably 10,000 men. The plain on the west 
of the two hills was swept by swarms of their 
cavalry, who evidently designed to cut off the 
small party of Irregular Horse under Lieut. 
Walker; while the failure of our attempt to 
storm the village had rendered it easy for the 
enemy to throw strong reinforcements into it, 
and to supply the ammunition of which they had 
been in great want. 

About 7 A. M., the fire from the enemy's hill 
was so galling, that the few skirmishers sent 
to the brow of our hill could with difficulty re- 
tain their posts. As an instance of the back- 
wardness which now began to develope itself 
among our men, it must be mentioned, that 
Lieut.-Col. Oliver endeavored to induce a party 
of his own regiment to follow him to the brow 
of the hill, to keep down the sharp fire of a 
number of the enemy, who had ensconced them- 
selves in a small ravine commanding the fore- 
most square; not a man would follow him, — and 
it was only after that brave officer had gone for- 
ward himself into the thickest of the fire, saying, 
" Although my men desert me, I myself will 
do my duty," that about a dozen were shamed 
into performing theirs. The remainder of the 
troops (the infantry formed into two squares, 
and the cavalry being drawn up era masse im- 
mediately in their rear) suffered severely with- 
out being able to retaliate, from the compara- 
tively short range of the musket. Our single 
gun maintained as hot a fire on the masses of 
the enemy as possible, doing great execution ; 
but the want of a second gun to take up the 
fire was sensibly felt, inasmuch as, after a short 
time, the vent became too hot for the artillery- 
men to serve. This state of things continued 
until between 9 and 10 o'clock, when a large 
party of the enemy's cavalry threatened our 
right flank, and, to prevent his destruction, 
Lieut. Walker was recalled. This demonstra- 
tion, however, was repulsed by a well-directed 
discharge of shrapnell from the H. A. gun, by 
one of which a chief of consequence, supposed 
to be Abdoollah Khan, Achukzye, was mortally 
wounded. 

By the recall of Lieut. Walker the enemy 
were enabled to surround our position at all 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



27 



points, except that facing the cantonments; our 
gun ammunition was almost expended, and the 
men were faint with fatigue and thirst (no wa- 
ter being procurable,) while the number of killed 
and wounded was swelled every instant. 

About this time (between 10 ^nd 11 a. m.,) 
large bodies of tbe enemy's infantry advanced 
across the plain from the Shah Bagh to the end 
of the hill, to cut off the supplies of ammunition 
coming from cantonments, as also the dhoolies 
on which we endeavoured to send off a few of 
the wounded. These, however, were checked 
by a party of our troops in the musjed, opposite 
the Kohistan gate, and by about fifty juzaiichees 
under the temporary command of Capt. Trevor, 
(Capt. Mackenzie, their leader, having been 
requested by Brigadier Shelton to act as one of 
the stafffor the day,) who lined some low walls 
and water courses, as well as by frequent dis- 
charges of round shot and shrapnell from the 
cantonment guns under Lieut. Warhurton. 

Previously to this, numbers of the most daring 
Ghazees had descended into the gorge, and, 
taking advantage of some hillocks on the ascent 
towards our position, had crept gradually up, 
maintaining a deadly fireon our skirmishers, who 
were unfortunately, wholly exposed ; they be- 
came at length disheartened, and gave way. 
At this moment the Brigadier offered a reward 
of 100 rupees to any man who should take a flag 
of the enemy, which had been planted behind a 
tumulus about thirty yards in front of the square, 
and he fruitlessly endeavoared to induce the men 
to charge bayonets ; several of the officers at 
the same time advanced to the front, and actu- 
ally pelted the enemy with stones."^ All attempts, 
however, to encourage our men were in vain. 
The attacking party were now emboldened to 
make a rush upon our gun ; our cavalry were 
ordered to charge, but again in vain, for the 
men would not follow their officers.! The panic 
spread, and our troops gave way, except the 
second square, which had been formed about 
200 yards in the rear, and three companies un- 
der Major Kershaw at the other extremity of 
the hill ; behind this second square the officers 
with great difficulty rallied the fugitives, leaving 
the gun in the hands of the enemy, who lost no 
time in walking off with the limber and horses. 

By this time the news of Abdoollah Khan's 
wound had spread among the ranks of the enemy, 
causing great confusion, which extended to the 
Ghazees now in possession of the gun. This, and 
the tolerably firm attitude resumed by our troops, 

* The names of this little band of heroes deserve 
to be recorded ; they were Capt. Mackintosh and 
Lieut. Laing, who were almost instantly killed, and 
Capts. Mackenzie, Troup, and Leighton; the lalter 
fell in the retreat of the army from Cabul, the other 
two happily still survive to fight their country's 
battles : of such men the Indian army may well be 
proud. 

t Capts. Bott and Collyer, 5th Light Cavalry ; 
Lieut. Walker, Irregular Horse ; Russular Ishmael 
Khan, Jemadar Synd, Mahomed Synd, and Mirza 
Musseer Bey, of Anderson's Horse. 



induced them to content themselves with the 
limber and horses, and retire. Their retreat 
gave fresh courage to our disheartened soldiers, 
who again took possession of the gun, and ad- 
vanced to the brow of the hill, where were 
found the bodies of Capt. Macintosh and Lieut. 
Laing, as well as those of the soldiers slain in 
the onset, including two H. A. men, who, with 
a devotedness worthy of British soldiers, had 
perished while vainly endeavouring to defend 
their charge. Some fresh gun-ammunition hav- 
ing now arrived from cantonments, carried by 
Lascars, a fire was again opened on the ranks 
of tbe enemy ; but we were unable to push the 
advantage gained by the momentary disorder 
alluded to above, because, in foct, the cavalry 
would not act. In the observations on this ac- 
tion, made hereafter, there will be found some 
palliation for the backwardness of the cavalry 
on this occasi&n, in spite of the gallant bearing 
of their leaders; the infantry were too few, and 
too much worn out and disheartened, to be able 
to make a forward movement. The consequence 
was, that not only did the whole force of the 
enemy come on with renewed vigour and spirits, 
maintaining at the same time the fatal juzail 
fire which had already so grievously thinned 
our ranks, but fresh numbers poured out of the 
city, and from the surrounding villages, until 
the hill occupied by them scarcely afforded room 
for them to stand. 

This unequal conflict having lasted until past 
noon, during which period reinforcements and 
an additional gun had been in vain solicited 
from the cantonments. Brigadier Shelton sent 
Capt. Mackenzie to request Major Kershaw to 
move up his reserve (which could scarcely so 
be called, having been the whole day hard 
pressed by large bodies of the enemy in the 
village, and by parties occupying ruins and 
broken ground on the skirts of his position). 
The Major, fearing that, if he abandoned the 
knoll on which he had been stationed, our re- 
treat to the cantonments (then becoming more 
and more imperatively necessary) might be cut 
off", made answer, that " he begged to suggest, 
that the Brigadier should fail back upon him." 
Before this message could be delivered, the front 
ranks of the advanced square, at the Brigadier's 
extremity of the hill, had been literally mowed 
down; — mostof theartillerymen, who performed 
their duty in a manner which is beyond praise, 
shared the same fate. The manoeuvre prac- 
tised by the Ghaaees previously was repeated 
by still greater numbers. The evident unsteadi- 
ness of our troops, and the imminent danger to 
which the gun was a second time exposed, in- 
duced the Brigadier, afler repeated suggestions 
from Serg. Mulhall, who commanded the bat- 
tery, to order the gun to be limbered up — a 
second limber having arrived from cantonments 
— and toretire towards Major Kershaw's position. 
Scarcely had this movement been commenced, 
when a rush from the Ghazees completely 
broke the square ; — all order was at an end : 
— the entreaties and commands of the officers, 



28 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



endeavouring to rally the men, were not even | 
listened to, and an utter rout ensued down the 
hill in the direction of cantonments, the enemy 
closely following, whose cavalry, in particular, 
made a fearful slaughter among the unresisting 
fugitives. Major Kershaw's party, perceiving 
this disaster, endeavoured to escape ; but strong 
parties, issuing from the village, cut off their 
retreat, and thus great numbers of our Sepoys 
perished : the grenadier company, especially, 
was all but annihilated. The mingled tide of 
flight and pursuit seemed, to those who manned 
the walls of cantonment, to be about to enter 
the gate together ; and, by some fatality, the 
ammunition of the great guns in battery within 
the cantonments was almost expended. A heavy 
fire, however, was opened from the Shah's 5th 
Infantry in the Mission Compound : a fresh 
troop of the 5th Cavalry, under Lieut. Hardy- 
man, charged across the plain towards the 
enemy, joined by Lieut. Walker, who had ral- 
lied fifteen or twenty of his own men ; during 
which gallant effort this most promising and 
brave young officer received a mortal wound. 
These operations, assisted by a sharp discharge 
from the juzailchees under Capt. Trevor, con- 
tributed to check the pursuit ; and it was ob- 
served at the time, and afterwards ascertained 
to be correct, that a chief (Osman Khan) volun- 
tarily halted his followers, who were among the 
foremost, and led them off; which may be 
reckoned, indeed, the chief reason why all of 
our people, who on that day went forth to bat- 
tle, were not destroyed. Our loss was tremen- 
dous; the principal part of the wounded having 
been left in the field, including Lieut.-Col. Oli- 
ver, where they were miserably cut to pieces. 
Our gun and second limber, which, while en- 
deavouring to gallop down the hill, had over- 
turned on rough ground, we had the mortifica- 
tion to behold triumphantly carried off" by the 
enemy. 

About half an hour previous to the flight of 
our troops, a note had been written to the As- 
sist.-Adjt.-Gen. by Capt. Troup, earnestly re- 
questing that the Mountain-train gun, which 
had by that time been repaired, might be sent 
out with the least possible delay ; and the first 
idea that suggested itself to that officer after 
our defeat was, that by quickly bringing this 
gun to bear upon the H. A. gun, then in the 
hands of the enemy, the latter might still be 
saved. He therefore galloped with speed to 
cantonments, where finding the Mountain-train 
gun just ready to start, he was on the point of 
leading it out of the gate, when his progress 
was interrupted by the Assist.-Adjt.-Gen., on 
the plea that it would now be of no use. This 
is the more to be lamented, as, from the spot 
occupied by Capt. Trevor's juzailchees, who, 
protected by a low wall, still kept up a sharp 
and effectual fire on the enemy, the range to 
the side of the hill whence the Affghans were 
endeavouring to carry off the captured gun, 
about which they clustered in thousatyls, was 
so short, that grape, even from a small calibre, 



must have prevented the execution of their in- 
tentions. Had the company of fresh infantry, 
which was drawn up outside the gate under 
command of Lieut. Alexander, moved forward 
in company with the mountain gun to the sup- 
port of the above gallant handful of juzailchees, 
excellent service might have been rendered. 
But it seemed as if we were under the ban of 
Heaven. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

In this miserable and disastrous affair no less 
than six great errors must present themselves, 
even to the most unpractised military eye, each 
of which contributed in no slight degree to the 
defeat of our troops, opposed as they were by 
overwhelming numbers. , 

1st. The first and perhaps most fatal mistake 
of all was the taking out a single gun. The 
General Order by the Marquess of Plastings, 
expressly forbidding less than two guns to take 
the field, under any circumstances or on any 
pretence whatever, when another is available, 
must be well known at least to every officer 
who has served in India. This positive prohibi- 
tion was the offspring of dearly-bought experi- 
ence ; and the action of Beymaroo affords an- 
other convincing example of the risk to which 
a single gun is exposed, when unsupported by 
the fire of a second. It was certainly the Bri- 
gadier's intention to take the mountain gun 
also ; but this had unfortunately been disabled 
on the previous day, and it had been twice 
specially reported, both to the Brigadier and to 
the General the foregoing night, by Capt. Troup, 
that it could not be got ready before 12 a. m. 
on the following day. 

2dly. The second error is scarcely less evi- 
dent than the first.r— Had immediate advantage 
been taken of the panic which our unexpected 
cannonade created among the possessors of the 
village, — whose slack fire afforded sufficient 
evidence of the actual fact that they were not 
only contemptible in numbers, but short of am- 
munition, — had, I say, a storming party been 
led to the attack under cover of the darkness, 
which would have nullified the advantage they 
possessed in being under cover, the place must 
inevitably have fallen into our hands, and thus 
would the principal object of the sally have 
been gained, and a good line of retreat secured 
for our troops in case of necessity. 

3dly. The third error was so manifest as to 
be quite unaccountable. A party of 100 sappers 
had accompanied the force for the express pur- 
pose of raising a sunga. The fittest place for 
such a work would have been half-way along 
the ridge occupied by us, where our troops 
would then have been wholly protected from 
the fire of the juzails from the opposite hill, 
while the enemy could not have advanced to 
the attack without exposing themselves to the 
full effects of our musketry and grape. It would, 
in fact, have infused into our troops a sense of 
security from any sudden charge of the enemy's 
horse, and at the same time have enabled our 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



29 



own cavalry to issue forth with the assurance I ment, in which alone lay ihe slightest chance 



of having in their rear a place of defence, on 
which to fall back, if hard pressed by the enemy. 
It has been seen that no such defence was 
raised. 

4thly. All have heard of the British squares 
at Waterloo, which defied the repeated despe- 
rate onsets of Napoleon's choicest cavalry. At 
Beymaroo we formed squares to resist the dis- 
tant fire of infantry, thus presenting a solid 
mass against the aim of perhaps the best marks- 
men in the world, the said squares being securely 
perched on the summit of a steep and narrow 
ridge, up which no cavalry could charge with 
effect. A Peninsular General would con- 
sider this to be a novel fashion ; yet Briga- 
dier Shelton had the benefit of Peninsular ex- 
perience in his younger days, and, it must 
be owned, was never surpassed in dauntless 
bravery. 

5thly. Our cavalry, instead of being found 
upon the plain, where they might have been 
useful in protecting our line of communications 
with the cantonments, and would have been 
able to advance readily to any point where their 
services might have been required, were hem- 
med in between two infantry squares, and ex- 
posed for several hours to a destructive fire 
from the enemy's juzails, on ground where, 
even under the most favourable circumstances, 
they could not have acted with effect. This 
false and unsatisfactory position of course dis- 
couraged the troopers; and, when the infantry 
finally gave way, the two arms of the service 
became mixed up in a way that greatly in- 
creased the general confusion, and rendered it 
impossible for the infantry to rally, even had 
they been so disposed. The truth is, that the 
cavalry were not allowed fair play, and such a 
position must have disgusted and dispirited any 
troops. 

6thly. Shortly after our regaining possession 
of the gun, one of the Brigadier's staff, Capt. 
Mackenzie, feeling convinced that, from the 
temper of the troops, and from the impossibility 
. of rectifying the false position in which the 
force was placed, not only was success beyond 
hope, but that defeat in its most disastrous shape 
was fast approaching, proposed to the Brigadier 
to endeavour to effect a retreat, while it was 
yet in his power to do so with comparative im- 
punity. His reply was, " Oh, no ! we will hold 
the hill some time longer." At that time, even 
if the slaughter of the soldiery, the loss of offi- 
cers, the evident panic in our ranks, and the 
worse than false nature of our position, had not 
been suiBcient to open all eyes as to the im- 
possibility even of partial success, (for the real 
object of the expedition, viz. the possession of 
the village of Beymaroo, had been, as it were, 
abandoned from the very first,) the weakness 
and exhaustion of both men and horses, who 
were not only worn out by bodily fatigue, but 
suffering grievously from extreme thirst and the 
debility attendant on long fasting, ought to have 
banished all idea of further delaying a raove- 



of preserving to their country lives, by the 
eventual sacrifice of which not even the only 
solace to the soldier in the hour of misfortune, 
the consciousness of unimpaired honour, was 
likely to be gained. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Our passiveness. Conferences and negotiations with 
the Insurgent Chiefs. Loss of Mahomed Shereef's 
Fort. Terms agreed on. 

November 24:th. — Our troops had now lost all 
confidence; and even such of the officers as had 
hitherto indulged the hope of a favourable turn 
in our affairs began at last reluctantly to enter- 
tain gloomy forebodings as to our future fate. 
Our force resembled a ship in danger of wreck- 
ing among rocks and shoals, for want of an able 
pilot to guide it safely through them. Even 
now, at the eleventh hour, had the helm of 
affairs been grasped by a hand competent to the 
important task, we might perhaps have steered 
clear of destruction ; but in the absence of any 
such deliverer, it was too evident that Heaven 
alone could save us by some unforeseen inter- 
position. The spirit of the men was gone; the 
influence of the officers over them declined 
daily; and that boasted discipline, which alone 
renders a handful of our troops superior to an 
irregular multitude, began fast to disappear from 
among us. The enemy, on the other hand, 
waxed bolder every day and every hour, nor 
was it long ere we got accustomed to be bearded 
with impunity from under the very ramparts of 
our garrison. 

I have already mentioned the new bridge 
thrown over the river by General Elphinstone : 
this the enemy, advancing up the bed of the 
river under cover of the bank, to-day began to 
demolish. I must do Brigadier Shelton the 
justice to say that he, seeing the vast importance 
of the bridge in case of a retreat (an alternative 
of which he never lost sight), had strongly 
urged the erection of a field-work for its pro- 
tection ; in fact, there was a small unfinished 
fort near at hand, which one night's work of the 
sappers would have rendered fit for the purpose, 
and a small detachment thrown into it would 
have perfectly commanded the bridge. But 
madness was equally apparent in all that was 
done or left undone: even this simple precau- 
tion was neglected, and the result will be seen 
in the sequel. 

Capt. Conolly now wrote in from the Bala 
Hissar, strongly advising an immediate retreat 
thither, on which movement several of the chief 
military and all the political officers considered 
our only hope of holding out through the Winter 
to depend. But the old objections were still 
urged against the measure by Brigadier Shelton 
and others ; and the General, in a letter this 
day addressed to the Envoy, expressed his 
opinion that " the movement, if not altogether 
j impossible, would be attended with great difll- 



30 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



culty, encumbered as we should be with nume- 
rous sick and wounded. The enemy would 
doubtless oppose us with their whole force, and 
the greater part of the troops would be required 
to cover the operation, thus leaving the can- 
tonments imperfectly defended ; that the men 
■were harassed, dispirited, and greatly reduced 
in numbers; and failure would be attended with 
certain destruction to the whole force. To re- 
move the ammunition and stores would be the 
work of several days, during which the enemy 
would hover round, and offer every obstacle to 
our operations. Our wounded were increased, 
whilst our means of conveying them were di- 
minished. Would the Bala Hissar hold the force 
with all the followers'? Water was already 
said to be selling there at a high price.* We 
had barely twenty days' supply of provisions in 
the cantonment ; and, even supposing we could 
find means to carry it with us, there was no 
prospect of obtaining more in the Bala Hissar. 
A retreat thence would be worse than from our 
present position, after having abandoned our 
cattle ; and the sick and wounded must be left 
behind us." In these opinions Brigadier Shelton 
entirely concurred. An appalling list of objec- 
tions, it must be confessed, but insufficient to 
shake my belief that a removal of the force into 
the Bala Hissar was not only practicable but 
necessary for our safety and honour ; while the 
risks attending it, though formidable, were only 
such as we ought, as soldiers, to have unhesi- 
tatingly incurred. Shah Shoojah had morever 
declared himself impatient to receive us; and, 
even had the dreaded ruin overwhelmed us in 
the attempt, would it not have been a more 
manly and honourable course, than the in- 
glorious treaty we shortly afterwards entered 
into with a treacherous band of rebels, by which 
we deserted the sovereign whom it was our duty 
to protect to the last drop of our blood "? Had 
we boldly sallied forth, preferring death to dis- 
honour, would not the fate of our poor fellows 
have been an hundred fold happier than that 
they subsequently experienced in their misera- 
ble retreat, inasmuch as they would have died 
in the consciousness of having bravely done 
their duty 1 Never were troops exposed to 
greater hardships and dangers; yet, sad to say, 
never did soldiers shed their blood with less 
beneficial result than during the investment of 
the British lines at Cabul. While, therefore, 
justice is done to the memory of the dead, and 
those, who encountered a thousand perils in the 
brave .and skilful performance of their duty, 
must be held up to that honour which is their 
due — while the tear of pity may well be shed 
at their untimely fate — the blame and discredit 
also must be theirs, who rendered nugatory all 
the oblations of blood that were offered, all the 
advantages that were gained, and finally in- 
volved a still formidable force in ruin and dis- 
grace. But to return to my narrative. 

A letter to the address of the Envoy was this 



* This report was entirely untrue. 



day received from Osman Khan,* Barukzye, a 
near relative of the new King, and generally 
supposed to have a favourable bearmg towards 
us, wherein he took credit to himself for having 
" checked the ardour of his followers in their 
pursuit of our flying troops on the preceding day, 
when, by following up their success, the loss of 
our cantonments and the destruction of our force 
was inevitable ; but that it was not the wish of 
the chiefs to proceed to such dreadful extremi- 
ties, their sole desire being that we should 
quietly evacuate the country, leaving them to 
govern it according to their own rules, and with 
a king of their own choosing." On the receipt 
of this friendly communication, the Envoy re- 
quested the General to state his opinion regard- 
ing the possibility, in a military point of view, 
of retaining our position in the cantonments ; 
as, in case of a negative reply, he might be 
able to enter into negotiations with the exist- 
ing rulers of the country. 

The General replied to the effect that " we 
had now been in a state of siege for three 
weeks; our provisions were nearly expended, 
and our forage entirely consumed, without the 
prospect of procuring a fresh supply ; that our 
troops were much reduced by casualties, and the 
large number of sick and wounded increased 
almost daily; and that, considering the difficulty 
of defending the extensive and ill-situated can- 
tonment, the near approach of winter, the fact of 
our communications being cut off, and that we 
had no prospect of reinforcement, with the whole 
country in arms against us, he did not think it 
possible to retain our present position in the 
country, and therefore thought the Envoy ought 
to avail himself of the offer to negotiate, which 
had been made him." 

November 27th. — Nothing else of conse- 
quence 'took place until this morning, when two 
deputies from the assembled chiefs, having made 
their appearance at the bridge, were ushered 
into cantonments by Capts. Lawrence and Tre- 
vor, the Envoy having agreed to confer with 
them, on condition that nothing should be pro- 
posed which it would be derogatory in him to 
consider. The interview took place in the 
officers' guard-room at the eastern gate ; the 
exact particulars did not transpire, but the de- 
mands made by the chiefs were such as it was 
impossible to comply with, and the deputies 
took leave of the Envoy with the exclamation 
that " we should meet again in battle !" " We 
shall at all events meet/' replied Sir William, 
" at the day of judgment." At night the En- 
voy received a letter from the chiefs, proposing 
terms of so disgraceful and insulting a nature as 
seemed at once to preclude all hope of terminating 
our difficulties by treaty. The tenor of them was 
as follows: "That we should deliver up Shah 
Shoojah and his whole family; lay down our 
arms ; and make an unconditional surrender ; 
when they might perhaps be induced to spare 

* This chief had sheltered Capt. Drummond in 
his own house since the first day of the outbreak. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



31 



our lives, and allow us to leave the country on 
condition of our never returning." The Envoy's 
reply was such as well became the representa- 
tive of his country's honour. " He was as- 
tonished," he said, "at their departing from that 
good faith for which he had given them credit, 
by violating the conditions on which he had 
been led to entertain proposals for a pacific 
arrangement; that the terms they proposed 
were too dishonourable to be entertained for a 
moment ; and that, if they persisted in them, 
he must again appeal to arms, leaving the result 
to the God of battles." 

December \st. — No active renewal of hos- 
tilities took place until to-day, when a desperate 
effort was made by the enemy to gain possession 
of the Bala Hissar, which they endeavoured to 
effect by a night attack, in the first instance, on 
the Bourge-i-lakh, an isolated tower forming 
an outwork to the fortress, and from its elevated 
position commanding almost the entire works. 
This point was, however, strongly reinforced 
without delay by Major Ewart, commanding the 
garrison, and notwithstanding the determined 
spirit exhibited by the enemy, who made re- 
peated charges up the hill, they were repulsed 
with considerable slaughter. 

December Ath. — At an early hour the enemy 
moved out in force from the city, and, having 
crowned the Beymaroo hills, posted two guns in 
the gorge, from which they maintained a tole- 
rably brisk fire for several hours into the can- 
tonments, efiecting fortunately but little mis- 
chief; in the evening they, as usual, retired to 
their respective haunts. During the night a 
rush was suddenly made by a party of Affghans 
to the gate of Mahomed Shereeff's fort, garri- 
soned by our troops, which they attempted, in 
imitation of our own method at the taking of 
Ghuznee, to blow open with powder bags, but 
without success. 

December 5th. — This day tlie enemy com- 
pleted the destruction of our bridge over the 
river, which they commenced on the 24th ult., 
no precaution having been taken to prevent the 
evil. Day after day we quietly looked on with- 
out an effort to save it, orders being in vain soli- 
cited by various oflicers for preventive measures 
to be adopted. In consequence of the enemy 
having commenced mining one of the towers of 
Mahomed Shereeff's fori, the garrison was re- 
inforced, and Lieut. Sturt succeeded during the 
night in destroying the mine. This, however, 
could only be effected at the expense of opening 
a passage under the walls, which it became 
necessary to barricade ; and although this mea- 
sure of precaution was efficiently executed, such 
was the nervous state of the party composing 
the garrison, that no reliance could be placed 
on their stability in case of an attack. 

December 6th. — The garrison of Mahomed 
Shereeff's fort was relieved at an early hour by 
one company of H. M.'s 44th, under Lieut. 
Grey, and one company 37th N. I. under Lieut. 
Hawtrey, an amply suflacient force for the de- 
fence of the place against any sudden onset; 



but, unhappily, the fears of the old garrison 
were communicated to the new, and, owing to 
the representations of Lieut. Hawtrey, tlie de- 
fences were minutely examined by Lieut. Sturt, 
the garrison engineer, and by him pronounced 
to be complete. Scarcely, however, had that 
officer returned to cantonments, ere information 
was conveyed to the General that the detach- 
ment, having been seized with a panic, had 
taken flight over the walls, and abandoned the 
fort to the enemy. It would appear that a small 
party of juzailchees, having crept up to the un- 
dermined tower under cover of the trees in the 
Shah Bagh, had fired upon the garrison through 
the barricaded breach which I have above de- 
scribed, unfortunately wounding Lieut. Grey, 
upon whose departure for medical aid the Euro- 
peans, deprived of their officer, lost what little 
confidence they had before possessed, and, col- 
lecting iheir bedding under the walls, betrayed 
symptoms of an intention to retreat. The enemy 
meanwhile, emboldened by the slackened fire of 
the defenders, approached momentarily nearer 
to the walls, and, making a sudden rush to the 
barricade, completed the panic of the garrison, 
who now made their escape over the walls in 
the greatest consternation, deaf to the indignant 
remonstrances of their gallant commander, who 
in vain entreated them not to disgrace them- 
selves and him by such cowardly proceedings. 
Even the Sepoys, who at first remained staunch, 
contaminated by the bad example set them by 
their European brethren, refused to rally ; and 
Lieut. Hawtrey, finding himself deserted by all, 
was obliged reluctantly to follow, being the last 
to leave the fort. It is, however, worthy of 
mention, that two Sepoys of the 37th N. I. 
were lefl dead in the fort, and two others were 
wounded, while not a man of the 44th was 
touched, excepting one whose hand suffered 
from the accidental explosion of a grenade. 

The enemy, though at first few in numbers, 
were not slow to avail themselves of the advan- 
tage afforded them by this miserable conduct of 
our troops, and their banner was soon planted 
in triumph on the walls, amidst the exulting 
shouts of hundreds. Much recrimination took 
place between the Europeans and the Sepoys 
engaged in this affair, each declaring the other 
had been the first to run ; and a court of in- 
quiry was assembled to investigate the matter, 
the result of which, though never entirely 
divulged, was generally supposed to be favour- 
able to the Sepoys, it being a known fact, that 
the Europeans had brought off nearly all their 
bedding safe, whilst the Sepoys had left every 
thing behind. At all events, a circumstance 
soon occurred, which abundantly testified the 
impression made on those in command. At this 
time the bazar village was garrisoned by a party 
of H. M.'s 44th, who, on observing the flight of 
the soldiers from Mahomed Shereeff's fort, were 
actually on the point of abandoning their own 
post, when they were observed and stopped by 
some officers, of whom one was Lieut. White, 
the adjutant of the regiment; but so little de- 



32 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



pendence could now be placed on their stability, 
that a guard from the 37th N. I. was stationed 
at the entrance of the bazar, with strict orders 
to prevent the exit of any Europeans on duty in 
the place. 

December 1th. — The European garrison was 
this day withdrawn from the bazar, and a com- 
pany of the 37th N. I. substituted in their 
room ! This, being the weakest point of our 
defences, had hitherto been protected entirely 
by parties of H. M.'s44lh, which post of honour 
they were now considered unworthy to retain. 

1 «may here be excused for offering a few 
brief remarks. 

In the course of this narrative, I have been 
compelled by stern truth to note down facts 
nearly affecting the honour and interest of a 
British regiment. It may, or rather I fear it 
must, inevitably happen that my unreserved 
statements of the Cabul occurrences will prove 
unacceptable to many, whose private or public 
feelings are interested in glossing over or sup- 
pressing the numerous errors committed and 
censures deservedly incurred. But my heart 
tells me that no paltry motives of rivalry or 
malice influence my pen ; rather a sincere and 
honest desire to benefit the public service, by 
pointing out the rocks on which our reputation 
was wrecked, the means by which our honour 
was sullied and our Indian empire endangered, 
as a warning to future actors in similar scenes, 
In a word, 1 believe that more good is likely to 
ensue from the publication of the whole unmi- 
tigated truth, than from a mere garbled state- 
ment of it. A kingdom has been lost — an army 
slain ; — and surely, if I can show that, had we 
been but true to ourselves, and had vigorous 
measures been adopted, the result might have 
been widely different, I shall have written an 
instructive lesson to rulers and subjects, to ge- 
nerals and armies, and shall not have incurred 
in vain the disapprobation of the self-interested 
or the proud. It is notorious that the 44th foot 
had been for a long time previous to these oc- 
currences in a state of woful deterioration. I 
firmly believe that in this, and in every other 
respect, they stood alone as a regiment of that 
noble army whose glorious deeds in all quarters 
of the globe have formed, with those of the 
British navy, the foundation of our pride, and 
have supplied for ages to come a theme of 
wonder and admiration. The regiment in ques- 
tion fell a prey to a vital disease, which the 
Horse Guards alone could have remedied, and 
which is now beyond the reach of proper inves- 
tigation. May a redeeming glory and renown 
rise from its ashes. 

The alarming discovery having been made 
that our supply of provisions had been mate- 
rially overrated, and that not even a sufficiency 
for one day remained in store, Capt. Hay was 
despatched with a convoy of military stores into 
the Bala Hissar, with orders to bring back the 
animals laden with grain. He started several 
hours before daybreak, but on reaching the 
Seeah Sung hill, a few straggling shots being 



fired upon his I'ear, the men riding the laden 
yahoos (Affghan ponies) were panic-stricken, 
and, hastily casting the loads to the ground, 
galloped for safety to the front. Much private 
property was lost at the same time, for, notwith- 
standing all the opposition that had been made 
to the proposal of a retreat to the Bala Hissar, 
the General in some degree deferred to the opi- 
nions of those who favoured the movement, by 
adopting the half measure of sending in maga- 
zine supplies from time to time by driblets. 
This led many to suppose that the whole force 
would sooner or later retreat thither, and ac- 
cordily advantage was taken of every opportu- 
nity to send in a few private necessaries in 
advance. On this occasion the attempt failed 
in the manner I have above related ; but Capt. 
Hay nevertheless accomplished the primary ob- 
ject of his journey, by bringing back as much 
provisions as could be collected on so short a 
notice. 

December 8th. — The Envoy, having addressed 
a public letter to the General, requested him to 
state " whether or not it was his opinion that 
any further attempt to hold out against the 
enemy would merely have the effect of sacri- 
ficing both His Majesty Shah Shoojah and our- 
selves ; and whether, supposing this to be so, 
the only alternative left was not to negotiate 
for our safe retreat out of the country, on the 
most favourable terms possible!" The General, 
in reply, stated his conviction that " the present 
situation of the troops was such, from the want 
of provisions and the impracticability of procur- 
ing more, that no time ought to be lost in en- 
tering into negotiations for a safe retreat from 
the country : That, as regarded the troops at 
Candahar, and the rumours of their approach 
to our assistance, he would be sorry, in the ab- 
sence of all authentic information, to risk the 
sacrifice of the troops by waiting for their 
arrival, when we were ignorant even of their 
having commenced their march, and were re- 
duced to three days' supply of provisions for our 
Sepoys at half rations, and almost without any 
forage for our horses and cattle: That our 
number of sick and wounded in hospital ex- 
ceeded 600, and our means for their transport 
were far from adequate, owing to the death by 
starvation of so many of our camels, from which 
cause also we should be obliged, at this incle- 
ment season, to leave their tents and bedding 
behind, with such a march before us: That, as 
regarded the King, he must be excused from 
entering upon that point of the Envoy's letter, 
and leave its consideration to his better know- 
ledge and judgment; but he might be allowed 
to say that it little became him, as commanding 
the British troops in Affghanistan, to regard the 
necessity of negotiation in any other light than 
as concerned their honour and welfare, for both 
of which he should be answerable, by a further 
stay here, after the sudden and universal rebel- 
lion against His Majesty's authority which had 
taken place throughout his dominions: That 
the whole of the grain and forage in the vici- 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



nity was exhausted, and the defence of the ex- 
tensive and ill-selected cantonment would not 
admit of distant expeditions, to obtain supplies 
from the stron»]y fortified dwellings of an 
armed and hostile population ; our present 
numbers being insufficient for its defence, and 
obliging the whole of the troops to be almost 
constantly under arms. In conclusion, he could 
only repeat bis opinion that the Envoy should 
lose no time in entering into negotiations." 
This letter was countersigned by Brigadiers 
Shelton and Anquetil, and Colonel Chambers, 
who entirely concurred in the opinions it ex- 
pressed. Meanwhile starvation stared us in the 
face, and it became necessary to adopt imme- 
diate measures for obtaining a further supply of 
provisions. A consultation was accordingly 
held with this object at the General's house, 
and it was determined that an attack should be 
made on the neighbouring fort of Khoja Ru- 
wash at an early hour the following morning. 

December 9th. — The morning dawned, but 
no signs of preparation appeared for the pro- 
posed enterprise ; no bridge was laid down for 
the passage of the guns and cavalry ; no troops 
were in readiness to march ; and it was plain 
that either no orders had been given, or no 
attention had been paid to them. Thus, not- 
withstanding the importance of its object, the 
expedition was suffered to die a natural death. 

Upon this subject I shall only remark that 
Brigadier Shelton commanded the garrison, 
and that with him the necessary arrangements 
rested. 

Intelligence having been this day received of 
a decisive victory gained over the enemy by 
Gen. Sale at Jellalabad, the Envoy conceived 
it might have the effect of modifying the Gene- 
ral's opinion, regarding the immediate necessity 
of negotiating with the rebel chiefs, and ad- 
dressed him a letter on the subject. The Gene- 
ral, however, declared in reply, that, pleasing 
as the intelligence was, it could not in the 
slightest degree influence our position, so as to 
affect the expediency of our treating; in form- 
ing which opinion he was much influenced by 
the joint representations that had been just 
made to him by Capts. Boyd and Johnson, the 
respective heads of the Company's and Shah's 
commissariat, wherein they declared their utter 
inability to procure grain or forage within three 
or four miles, and that, although three days' 
supply of atta (ground wheat) might still be 
procurable from the Bala Hissar, yet every 
additional day's delay now crippled the cattle 
more and more, and rendered our position more 
perilous. Notwithstanding these apparently 
conclusive arguments, there existed strong 
grounds for believing thai the Bala Hissar, con- 
tained a much larger supply of provisions than 
was generally supposed. 

December lOlh. — Another convoy of military 
stores was despatched to the Bala Hissar this 
morning under command of Lieut. Le Geyt, by 
whom a further supply of atta was brought back 
in return. 



December 11th. — The rebel chiefs having, 
manifested an inclination to treat, the Envoy, 
accompanied by Capts. Lawrence, Mackenzie, 
and Trevor, went out to meet them on the plain 
towards Seah Sung. There were present Ma- 
homed Akber Khan, Osman Khan, Mahomed 
Khan Naib Ameer (commonly called Naib 
Ameer), Barukzyes ; — Mahomed Shah Khan, 
Humza Khan, Khooda Bux Khan, Giljyes; — 
Juayut Oolol Khan, Populzye; — Khan Shereen 
Khan, Kuzzilbash; — and several others of infe- 
rior note, but all heads of tribes. After the 
exchange of salutations, Sir William addressed 
the assembled Khans, alluding to past times, 
during which reiations of perfect cordiality and 
friendship had existed between them and the 
English, He greatly lamented that feelings of 
so pleasant and mutually beneficial a nature 
should have been thus rudely interrupted; but 
professed himself wholly ignorant of the causes 
of such interruption. He proceeded to state 
that sentiments of good-will towards the Aff- 
ghan nation had principally induced the British 
government to lend their aid, in restoring to 
the seat of his ancestors a king, who, notwith- 
standing his misfortunes, originating in causes 
to which he would not then allude, had ever 
reigned in the hearts of the mass of his people; 
that the restoration of their monarch had appa- 
rently given the utmost satisfaction to all classes 
throughout his dominions. If, however, that 
satisfaction had passed away, and given place 
to emotions of a wholly contrary nature (and he 
supposed that the assembled Sirdars and Khans 
might be considered the mouth-piece of the 
people), it no longer became the British Govern- 
ment to persist in a course so displeasing to 
those chiefly interested in the result. On this 
account he was willing to enter into negotia- 
tions, for the smoothing over of present difficul- 
ties, and for the adopting of such measures as 
were likely to be the most conducive towards 
the re-establishment of that mutual friendship 
between the British and Affghan governments, 
the maintenance of which, he felt assured, must 
be earnestly desired by both parties. To all 
these propositions Mahomed Akber Khan and 
Osman Khan, as the principal personages pre- 
sent, expressed, with the hearty concurrence of 
the inferior chiefs, their entire assent, adding 
many expressions of their personal esteem for 
the Envoy himself, and their gratitude for the 
way in which the exiled Ameer had been used. 
The Envoy then requested permission to read 
to them a paper containing a general sketch of 
the proposed treaty. This being agreed to, the 
articles of the treaty were read and discussed. 
Their general purport was to the effect — That 
the British should evacuate Affghanistan, in- 
cluding Candahar, Ghuznee, Cabul, Jellalabad, 
and all the other stations absolutely within 
the limits of the country so called ; — that they 
should be permitted to return not only unmo- 
lested to India, but that supplies of every de- 
scription should be afforded them in their road 
thither, certain men of consequence accompany- 



34 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



ing them as hostages; — that the Ameer Dost Ma- 
homed Khan, his family, and every Aftghan now 
in exile for political offences, should be allowed 
to return to their country ; — that Shah Shoojah 
and his family should be allowed the option of 
remaining at Cabul or proceeding with the 
British troops to Loodiana, in either case re- 
ceiving from the government a pension of one 
lac of rupees per annum ; — that means of trans- 
port for the conveyance of our baggage, stores, 
&c., including that required by the royal family, 
in case of their adopting the latter alternative, 
should be furnished by the existing Alfghan go- 
vernment ; that an amnesty should be granted 
to all those who had made themselves obnoxious 
on account of their attachment to Shah Shoojah 
and his allies, the British : — that all prisoners 
should be released ; — that no British force 
should be ever again sent into AfFghanistan, 
unless called for by the Affghan government, 
between whom and the British nation perpetual 
friendship should be established on the sure 
foundation of mutual good offices. 

To all these terms the chiefs cordially agreed, 
with the exception of Mahomed Akber, who 
cavilled at several, especially that of the am- 
nesty, but was overruled by his coadjutors. 
He positively refused to permit the garrison to 
be supplied with provisions until it had quitted 
cantonments, which movement he clamorously 
demanded should take place the following morn- 
ing. His violence caused some confusion ; but 
the more temperate of his party having inter- 
fered, it was finally agreed that our evacuation 
of the cantonments should take place in three 
days — that provisions should be supplied — and 
that to all the above-mentioned articles of this 
new treaty a formal assent in writing should be 
sent, with all the usual forms of a restored 
peace. The chiefs, on returning to the city, 
took with them Capt. Trevor as a hostage tor 
the sincerity of the Envoy. During the whole 
of this interview, which took place not far from 
the bottom of the Seeah Sung hills, great anxie- 
ty was felt in the cantonments from the apparent 
danger to which the Envoy was exposed, — he 
being accompanied only by a few troopers of 
4 the body-guard, — and from the circumstance of 
large bodies of the enemy's horse and foot being 
seen to pass towards the scene of conference 
from the city, their leaders evidently with much 
difficulty restraining their advance beyond a 
certain point. Sir William, however, although 
not unaware of the perfidious nature of those 
he had to deal with, nor insensible to the risk 
he ran, (a shot in fact, from the fanatic multi- 
tude, having whistled over the heads of the 
gentlemen in attendance on him, as they ad- 
vanced towards the rendezvous,) wisely ima- 
gined that a display of confidence was the best 
mode of begetting good faith. It is, however, 
pretty certain that the tumultuary movements of 
the Aflghan troops, whose presence was in di- 
rect violation of the stipulations under which 
the conference was held, were not withcMit their 
cause, it having been the earnest desire of Ma- 



homed Akber to seize upon the Envoy's person 
at that very meeting, from which step he was 
with difficulty restrained by the other Khans. 
But no sense of personal danger could have 
deterred a man of Sir William's truly chival- 
rous and undaunted character from the perform- 
ance of any duty, private or public. 

Would that he had been more alive to the 
apprehensions which influenced common men ! 
We might not then have to mourn over the un- 
timely fate of one, whose memory must be ever 
cherished in the hearts of all who knew and 
were capable of appreciating him, notwith- 
standing the disastrous termination of his politi- 
cal career, as that of a good, and, in many 
essential points, a great man. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Preparations for evacuating. More conferencesf. 
More delays. More ditficuities. Mahomed Akber's 
plot against the Envoy. His murder. 

December 12th. — It is undeniable that Sir 
William Macnaghten was forced into this treaty 
with men whose power he despised, and whose 
treachery was proverbial, against his own judg- 
ment, by the pressing representations of our 
military heads. It is no less true that, whatever 
may have been his political remissness or want 
of foresight before the rebellion broke out, he 
had, throughout the perils that afterwards beset 
us, displayed a truly British spirit of unflinchmg 
fortitude and indefatigable energy, calculated, 
under more auspicious leaders, to have stimu- 
lated the zeal and valour of the troops, and to 
have cheered them under the trials and hard- 
ships they were called on to endure; and 1 
can safely add, without fear of contradiction, 
that scarcely an enterprise was undertaken 
throughout the siege, but at the suggestion, and 
even the entreaties, of the Envoy, he volunteer- 
ing to take on himself the entire responsibility. 
Justice demands ibis tribute to the memory of 
one, whose acts, as they will assuredly undergo 
the severe scrutiny of his countrymen, it there- 
fore becomes the duty of every eye-witness, who 
bears testimony on the subject, not only to 
shield from misrepresentation, but, where they 
are deserving of it, to hold up to public admira- 
tion. I am led to write this solely by my pub- 
lic knowledge of the man. If I could bring my- 
self, on matters of such vital importance, to fol- 
low the dictates of mere private feeling, my 
bias would be altogether on the side of my late 
lamented military chief, who honoured me with 
his friendship, and for whose infirmities every 
allowance ought, in common justice, to be 
made. 

With a mind and talents of no ordinary stamp, 
and a hitherto unsullied fame, Ae committed the 
fatal error of transporting himself suddenly from 
a state of prolonged luxurious repose, at an ad- 
vanced age, to undertake the fatigues and cares 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



inseparable from high military command, in a 
foreign uncongenial climate; he thus not only 
ruined his already shattered health, but (which 
to a soldier was a far worse calamity) grievously 
damaged that high reputation which his early 
services had secured for him. His fate ought to 
serve as a warning to others of his class, who, 
priding tiiemselves on a Peninsular fame of 
some thirty years' standing, are too apt to for- 
get the inroads that time may have meanwhile 
made on mind and body; and who would do 
well to bear in remembrance that, of two of the 
most iron intellects of their day — one of them 
was even the greatest general of his age — it 
was written with too much truth, — 

" From Marlborough'' s eyes the tears of dotage flow, 
And Swift expires a driveller and a show." 

The terms of the new treaty were immedi- 
ately made known to Shah Shoojah, by which 
that unfortunate monarch found himself once 
more doomed to an old age of exile and degra- 
dation. The first step towards its fulfilment 
was the withdrawal of our troops from the Bala 
Hissar, which was to have taken place this very 
day, but was postponed for a short time longer, 
to admit of the necessary preparations being 
made. A deputation of chiefs had an interview 
in the close of the day, who were the bearers of 
a most unexpected proposition, to the effect that 
Shah Shoojah should continue king, on condi- 
tion of intermarrying his daughters with the 
leading Affghan chiefs, and abandoning the 
offensive practice of keeping the chief nobles of 
his kingdom waiting for hours at his gate, in 
expectation of audience. The Affghans hate 
ceremony, which Shah Shoojah carried at all 
times to an absurd extent; hence much of his 
unpopularity. This arrangement was not in- 
tended to annul those parts of the treaty which 
related to our immediate evacuation of the coun- 
try, for the fulfilment of which some married 
families were demanded as hostages. 

December \Zth. — Such was the inveterate 
pride of the King, that he yielded a most reluc- 
tant consent to the above-mentioned proposals, 
notwithstanding that the only alternative was 
the instant resignation of his kingdom. Little 
confidence was, however, placed by the Envoy 
in the sincerity of the chiefs, whose haired of 
the Doranee ruler was notorious. As our re- 
treat was now fully decided on, and our well- 
stocked magazine was shortly to fall a prey to 
our enemies, the General ordered that some 
ammunition should be distributed to certain of 
the camp followers; and commanding officers 
were directed to indent for new arms and ac- 
coutrements, in exchange for such as were old 
and damaged. The reins of discipline had, how- 
ever, by this time become so terribly relaxed, 
and so little attention was paid to superior or- 
ders by either officers or men, that many of the 
officers in command of companies rested content 
with sending their men to the magazine, to help 
themselves at will, the stores being unfortu- 



nately, in the absence of any finished building 
for their reception, arranged under the trees of 
an orchard, in charge of a small guard. The 
consequence was, as might have been expected, 
a scene of disgraceful confusion and plunder, 
which was rendered worse by a rush of camp- 
followers, who, imagining that a licence had 
been given for every one to take whatever he 
pleased, flocked in hundreds to the spot, and terri- 
bly increased the tumult; insomuch that the 
authority of several officers, who, observing 
what was going on, exerted themselves to re- 
store order, was for several minutes set at open 
defiance. At last, however, the place was 
cleared of the intruders, and the greater portion 
of the stolen articles was recovered the same 
evening. But this event may be taken as an in- 
stance of the unsteadiness of the troops, and of 
the recklessness that now began to extend itself 
amongst all ranks of the force. 

At 2 p. M. the troops in the Bala Hissar, con- 
sisting of the 54th N. I., half of Capt. NichoU's 
troop of horse artillery, and a detachment of the 
mountain train, with 2 howitzers, under Lieut. 
Green, commenced their evacuation of that for- 
tress. They were also encumbered with an 
iron nine-pounder gun, and a twenty-four poun- 
der brass howitzer, drawn by bullocks, which it 
was the General's wish should have been left 
behind, but his order to that effect had by some 
accident missed its destination. As the utmost 
scarcity of provisions prevailed in cantonments, 
Capt. kirby, the commissariat officer, had zea- 
lously exerted himself to collect a supply of 
about 1600 maunds of wheat and flour to carry 
thither. Much delay, however, occurred in 
packing and loading ; and, the best part of the 
day being nearly spent ere above one third of 
that quantity was ready. Major Ewart deemed 
it advisable to move off without further loss of 
time. He found Mahomed Akber Khan in 
waiting with a small body of followers outside 
the gate, for the purpose of escorting him to 
cantonments ; and, as evening drew nigh, a 
dense crowd of armed Affghans had been ob- 
served to collect on the Seeah Sung hill, along 
the base of which our troops must pass, giving 
rise to suspicions of some meditated treachery. 
While the rear-guard, with the Mountain-train 
gun and a portion of the baggage, was leaving 
the gate, some of Mahomed Akber's followers, 
pushing quietly past them, endeavoured to 
effect an entrance into the fort; but on their 
being recognised by the king's guard, the gates 
were immediately shut, and a round or two of 
grape fired upon the intruders, with so indiscri- 
minate an aim as to endanger the lives of Capt. 
ConoUy and several of the Sepoys, of whom 
some were severely wounded. It can scarcely 
be doubted that Mahomed Akber's intention 
was to have seized the gate with a few of his 
men, until a rush of the Affghans from the hill 
should have enabled him to carry the body of 
the place by storm. The vigilance of the garri- 
son having defeated this plan, the wily chief, 
imagining that the gates would again be opened 



36 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



to readmit our troops, informed Major Ewart 
that, owing to the lateness of the hour and the 
threatening attitude assumed by the crowd on 
the hill, it would be necessary to postpone his 
inarch until the following morning. In conse- 
quence of this sudden ill-timed announcement. 
Major Ewart applied to the King for the imme- 
diate readmission of his troops for shelter during 
the night; but the monarch, whose suspicions 
of foul play on the part of Mahomed Akber were 
now fully awakened, positively refused to 
accede to the request. The prospect of passing 
the night in the low marshy ground under the 
walls, without tents, bedding, firewood, or food, 
for officers or men, was sufficiently cheerless ; 
while the fear of treachery on the part of Ma- 
homed Akber, and the dangerous vicinity of an 
armed multitude, whose watch-fires already 
gleamed on the adjacent hills, tended but little 
to relieve the discomforts of such a situation. 
The cold was intensely bitter, and perhaps so 
miserable a night had never before been spent 
by Indian troops. 

December \^th. — At an early hour this morn- 
ing, Mahomed Akber having declared his readi- 
ness to proceed, the troops commenced their 
march. The advance-guard was suffered to 
proceed unmolested ; but the rear-guard, on 
reaching the base of the Seeah Sung hill, was 
fired upon by the enemy, who crowned the 
ridge ; and the iron nine-pounder being for a 
few moments accidentally separated from the 
columns in crossing a water-cut, an instantane- 
ous rush was made upon it by a number of Afi- 
ghans, and a poor sick European artillery-man, 
who, for want of a more suitable conveyance, 
had been lashed to the gun, was unmercifully 
butchered. The approach of the rear-guard, 
and a round or two of grape from the mountain 
train howitzer, drove off the assailants ; and 
they were restrained from ofl^ering any addi- 
tional annoyance by the exertions of Mahomed 
Akber himself, who, galloping in amongst them 
with a few followers, threatened to cut down 
any who dared to be guilty of further opposition 
to the progress of the detachment, which ac- 
cordingly reached cantonments safe at about 

9 A. M. 

December 16th. — Shah Shoojah having, for 
reasons best known to himself, withdrawn his 
consent to the arrangement which was to have 
continued him in the possession of his rights, 
the treaty resumed its original form ; but the 
chiefs positively refused to supply provisions or 
forage, until we should further assure them of 
our sincerity by giving up every fort in the 
immediate vicinity of cantonments. Forage 
1 ad for many days been so scarce, that the 
horses and cattle were kept alive by paring off 
the bark of trees, and by eating their own dung 
over and over again, which was regularly col- 
lected and spread before them. The camp-fol- 
lowers were destitute of other food than the 
flesh of animals, which expired daily from star- 
vation and cold. Thedaily consumption of atta 
by the fighting men was about 150 maunds. 



and not above two days' supply remained in 
store. By giving up the forts in question, all 
of which commanded the cantonment, we should 
place ourselves entirely at the mercy of the 
enemy, who could at any time render our posi- 
tion untenable. But our leaders now seemed 
to consider that we had no other chance left 
than to concede to the demands of the chiefs, 
however unreasonable ; and our troops were 
accordingly withdrawn from the Rikabashee, 
Magazine, and Zoolfekar's forts, and from the 
Musjeed opposite the western gate, all of which 
were forthwith occupied by the Affirhans, who, 
on their part, sent in Nussuroollah Khan, a bro- 
ther of Nuwab Zuman Khan, as a hostage, and 
a supply of about 150 maunds of atta tor the 
troops. They likewise promised us 2000 camela 
and 400 yahoos for the march to Jellalabad. 

December 18th. — The delay of the chiefs in 
furnishing the necessary carriage, and the 
Shah's dilatoriness in deciding on his future 
course, compelled us from day to day to post- 
pone our departure. Meanwhile the increasing 
severity of the winter rendered every hour's 
procrastination of the utmost consequence; and 
this morning our situation was rendered more 
desperate than ever by a heavy fall of snow, 
which covered the ground to the depth of five 
inches, and never afterwards disappeared. Thus 
a new enemy entered on the scene, which we 
were destined to find even more formidable than 
an army of rebels. 

December 19th. — The Envoy wrote an order 
for the evacuation of Ghuznee, and it was ar- 
ranged that the 27th N. I., which garrisoned 
the place, should march through the Zoormut 
valley, and pursue the route of Dera Ishmael 
Khan. The 22d was fixed for our departure. 

December 20th. — The Envoy had an inter- 
view with the chiefs, who now demanded that 
a portion of our guns and ammunition should 
be immediately given up. They also required 
Brigadier Shelton as a hostage. It was pro- 
posed by Lieut. Sturt to the General to break 
off the treaty, and march forthwith to Jellalabad, 
devoting all the means of transport we possessed 
to the service of the sick, and the conveyance of 
such public stores as were absolutely necessary. 
But neither the General nor his immediate ad- 
visers could bring them to adopt a course which 
would have saved the national honour, at the 
risk of sacrificing our whole force. 

It has been truly said that a council of war 
never fights. A door of hope had until this 
day, still remained open to us in the approach 
of Col. Maclaren's force to our assistance from 
Candahar ; we now heard with despair of its 
retreat from Tazee, in consequenceof the snow. 

December 2lst. — The Envoy met Osman 
Khan and Mahomed Akber Khan on the plain, 
when four hostages were fixed upon, two of 
whom (Capts. Conolly and Airey) were at once 
given over. Brigadier Shelton, having expressed 
a decided objection to undertake the duty, was 
not insisted upon. In the evening Capts. Tre- 
vor and Druramond were permitted to return to 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



cantonments, the latter officer having been con- 
cealed in the city since the 2d of November. 

December 22d. — I was ordered to conduct an 
officer of Nuwab Zuman Khan over the maga- 
zine, that he might mai^e choice of sucli stores 
as would be most acceptable to the chiefs. I 
recommended a large pile of 8-inch shells to 
his notice, which 1 knew would be of no use 
to the chiefs, as the mortars were with Capt. 
Abbott's battery at Jellalabad. He eagerly 
seized the bait, and departed in great glee, 
with his prize laden on some old ammunition- 
wagons. 

The Envoy at the same time sent his car- 
riage as a present to Mahomed Akber Khan. 
That same night the last-named chief spread 
the net into which Sir William Macnaghten 
was, on the following day, so miserably lured 
to his destruction. Capt. Skinner, at this time 
living under Mahomed Akber's protection, was 
made the bearer of proposals to the Envoy, of 
so advantageous a nature, as to prove, in his 
forlorn circumstances, irresistibly tempting. 

AmenooUah Khan, the most influential of the 
rebels, was to be seized on the following day, 
and delivered up to us as a prisoner. Mahomed 
Khan's fort was to be immediately occupied by 
one of our regiments, and the Bala Hissar by 
another. Shah Shoojah was to continue king ; 
Mahomed Akber was to become his wuzeer, 
and our troops were to remain in their present 
position until the following spring. — That a 
scheme like this, bearing impracticability on its 
very face, should have for a moment deceived 
a man of Sir William's usual intelligence and 
penetration, is indeed an extraordinary instance 
of infatuation, that can only be accounted for 
on the principle that a drowning man will catch 
at a straw. Our fortunes were now at their 
lowest ebb ; the chiefs were apparently delay- 
ing our departure until the snow should have 
formed an impassable barrier to the removal of 
our troops, who, even in the absence of an 
enemy, would but too probably perish from 
cold and famine. A treaty formed with men 
famed for falsehood and treachery, and who 
had already shown an utter disregard of some 
of its most important stipulations, could be re- 
garded as little better than so much waste 
paper ; added to which considerations, Sir Wil- 
liam felt that his own fame was deeply involved 
in the issue of that policy,* of which he had 
from the very first been the prime advocate and 
upholder, and that with it he must stand or fall. 
The specious project of Mahomed Akber offered 
a solution to the difficulties that beset his path, 
at which he grasped with an eagerness engen- 
dered by despair. The strength of the rebels 
had hitherto lain in their unanimity ; the pro- 
posed stroke of policy would at once dissolve 
the confederacy, and open a road by which to 
retrieve our ruined fortunes. On either hand 
there was danger ; and, miserable as Sir Wil- 

* That of invading AfFghanistan for the purpose 
of restoring Shah Shoojah as king. 



Ham's life had been for the past six weeks, he 
was willing to stake his all on the issue of a 
plan which seemed to ofler a faint hope of re- 
covering the ground we had lost. 

In a fatal hour he signed his name to a paper 
consenting to the arrangement. — His doom was 
sealed. — The whole was a scheme got up by 
the chiefs, to test his sincerity. 

December 2\id. — At about noon Sir William 
Macnaghten, attended by Capts. Lawrence, 
Trevor, and Mackenzie, left the mission-house 
to attend a conference with Mahomed Akber 
Khan on the plain towards Seeah Sung. Pre- 
viously to this he had requested the General 
that two regiments and two guns might be in 
readiness for secret service, and that, as the 
interview would be of a critical nature, the gar- 
rison might be kept well on the alert, and the 
walls strongly manned. In leaving the canton- 
ments, Sir William expressed his disappoint- 
ment at the paucity of men on the ramparts, 
and the apparent inertness of the garrison at 
such a critical moment, saying, " However, it 
is all of a piece with the military arrangements 
throughout the siege." On his leaving the gate 
only sixteen troopers of the body-guard were 
in attendance, but the remainder shortly after- 
wards joined, under Lieut. Le Geyt. 

Sir William now for the first time explained 
to the officers who accompanied him the objects 
of the present conference; and Capt. Lawrence 
was warned to be in readiness to gallop to the 
Bala Hissar, to prepare the King for the ap- 
proach of a regiment. . 

Apprehensions being expressed of the danger 
to which the scheme might expose him, in case 
of treachery on the part of Mahomed Akber, he 
replied, " Dangerous it is; but if it succeeds, it 
is worth all risks : the rebels have not fulfilled 
even one article of the treaty, and I have no. 
confidence in them ; and if by it we can only, 
save our honour, all will be well. At any ratei. 
I would rather suffer a hundred deaths, than 
live the last six weeks over again." 

Meanwhile crowds of armed AfFghans were 
observed hovering near the cantonment and 
about Mahomed Khan's fort, causing misgivings 
in the minds of all but the Envoy himself, whose 
confidence remained unshaken. On arrivir>g 
near the bridge, they were met by Mahomed 
Akber Khan, Mahomed Shah Khan, Dost Ma- 
homed Khan, Khooda Bux Khan, Azad Khan,, 
and other chiefs, amongst whom was ihe brother 
of AmenooUah Khan, whose presence might 
have been sufficient to convince Sir William 
that he had been duped. 

The usual civilities having passed, the Envoy 
presented Akber Khan with a valuable Arab 
horse, which had only that morning been pur- 
chased for 3000 rupees. The whole party then 
sat down near some rising ground, which par- 
tially concealed them from cantonments. 

Capt. Lawrence having called attention to 
the number of inferior followers around them, 
with a view of their being ordered to a distance, 
Mahomed Akber exclaimed, " No, they are all 



38 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



in the secret ;" which words had scarcely been 
uttered, when Sir William and his three com- 
panions found themselves suddenly grasped 
firmly by the hands from behind, whilst their 
swords and pistols were rudely snatched away 
by the chiefs and their followers. The three 
officers were immediately pulled forcibly along 
and compelled to mount on horseback, each be- 
hind a Giljye chief, escorted by a number of 
armed retainers, who with difficulty repelled 
the efforts of a crowd of fanatic Ghazees, who, on 
seeing the affray, had rushed to the spot, calling 
aloud for the blood of the hated infidels, aiming 
at them desperate blows with their long knives 
and other weapons, and only deterred from 
firing by the fear of killing a chief. The un- 
fortunate Envoy was last seen struggling vio- 
lently with Mahomed Akber, " consternation 
and horror depicted on his countenance." 

On their nearing Mahomed Khan's fort, re- 
newed attempts were made to assassinate the 
three captive officers by the crowd there assem- 
bled. Capt. Trevor, who was seated behind 
Dost Mahomed Khan, unhappily fell to the 
ground, and was instantly slain. Capts. Law- 
rence and Mackenzie reached the fort in safety, 
but the latter was much bruised in various parts 
of his body, and both were greatly exhausted 
from the excitement they had undergone. 

At the entrance of the fort, a furious cut was 
aimed at Capt. Mackenzie's head by a ruffian 
named Moollah Momin, which was warded off 
by Mahomed Shah Khan, that chief receiving 
thejjlow on his own shoulder. Being taken into 
a small room, they found themselves still in 
continual jeopardy from repeated assaults of the 
Ghazees without, who were with the greatest 
difficulty restrained from shooting them through 
the window, where the hand of some recent 
European victim (afterwards ascertained to be 
that of the Envoy himself) was insultingly held 
up to their view. Throughout this trying scene 
they received repeated assurances of protection 
from the Giljye chiefs; but AmenooUah Khan 
coming in gave vent to a torrent of angry abuse, 
and even threatened to blow them from a gun. 
It is deserving of notice, that, amidst the con- 
gratulations which on all sides met the ear of 
Mahomed Shah Khan on the events of the day, 
the solitary voice of an aged Moollah was raised 
in condemnation of the deed, which he solemnly 
pronounced to be "foul," and calculated to cast 
a lasting disgrace on the religion of Mahomed. 
At midnight they were removed to the house of 
Mahomed Akber Khan. As they passed through 
the streets of Cabul, notwithstanding the excite- 
ment that had prevailed throughout the day, it 
resembled a city of the dead ; nor did they meet 
a single soul. 

By Akber Khan they were received cour^te- 
ously, and were now informed for the first time 
by Capt. Skinner of the murder of the Envoy 
and Capt. Trevor. That Sir William Mac- 
naghten met his death at the hands of Mahomed 
Akber himself there can be no reasonable doubt. 
That chief had pledged himself to his coadju- 



tors to seize the Envoy that day, and bring him 
into the city, when the chiefs hoped to have 
been able to dictate their own terms, retaining 
him as a hostage for their fulfilment. Finding 
it impossible, from the strenuous resistance Sir 
William offered, to carry him off alive, and yet 
determined not to disappoint the public expec- 
tation altogether, — influenced also by his tiger 
passions, and the remembrance of his father's 
wrongs, — Mahomed Akber drew a 'pistol, the 
Envoy's own gift a few hours before, and shot 
him through the body, which was immediately 
hacked to pieces by the ferocious Ghazees, by 
whom the dismembered trunk was afterwards 
carried to the city, and publicly exposed in the 
Char Chouk, or principal mart. The head was 
taken to the house of Nuwab Zuman Khan, 
where it was triumphantly exhibited to Capt. 
Conolly. 

Such was the cruel fate of Sir William Mac- 
naghten, the accomplished scholar, the distin- 
guished politician, and the representative of 
Great Britain at the court of Shah Shooja-Ool- 
Moolk. 

It cannot but be acceptable to my readers, if 
I here present entire the interesting and im- 
portant letters of Capts. Mackenzie and Law- 
rence on this melancholy subject. 

Letter addressed by Captain C. Mackenzie to 
Lieutenant Vincent Eyre. 

My dear Eyre, 

You ask for a minute account of the circum- 
stances attending the assassination of the late Sir 
William Macnaghten, and my own detention and 
imprisonment on that occasion. You may re- 
member that, for many days previous to the fatal 
23d December, the poor Envoy had been subjected 
to more wear and tear, both of body and mind, than 
it was possible for the most iron frame and the 
strongest intellect to bear without deeply feeling its 
effects. He had fulfilled all the preliminary condi- 
tions of the treaty which had been proposed be- 
tween the British and the AfFghan insurgents, 
whereas the Khans had in no one particular adhered 
to their engagements. Bad faith was evident in all 
their proceedings, and our condition was a despe- 
rate one ; more especially as Sir William had as- 
certained, by bitter experience, that no hope re- 
mained in the energies and resources of our mili- 
tary leaders, who had formally protested that they 
could do nothing more. Beset by this disgraceful 
imbecility on the one hand, and by systematic 
treachery on the other, the unfortunate Envoy was 
driven to his wits' end, and, as will be seen, forgot, 
in a fatal moment, the wholesome rule which he 
had theretofore laid down for himself, of refusing to 
hold communication with individuals of the rebel 
party, especially with him who was notorious, even 
amongst his villanous countrymen, for ferocity and 
treachery, to wit, Mahomed Akber Khan. .Late 
in the evening of the 22d December, Captain James 
Skinner, who, after having been concealed in Cabul 
during the greater part of the siege, had latterly been 
the guest of Mahomed Akber, arrived in canton- 
ments, accompanied by Mahomed Sudeeq Khan, 
a first cousin of Mahomed Akber, and by Sirwar 
Khan, the Arhanee merchant, who, in the begin- 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



ning of the campaigpn, had furnished the army 
with camels, and who had been much in the con- 
fidence of Sir A. Burnes, being, in fact, one of our 
staunchest friends. The two latter remained in a 
different apartment, while Skinner dined with the 
Envoy. During dinner. Skinner jestingly remarked 
that he felt as if laden with combustibles, being 
charged with a message from Mahomed Akber to 
the Envoy of a most portentous nature. 

Even then I remarked that the Envoy's eye 
glanced eagerly towards Skinner with an expres- 
sion of hope. In fact, he was like a drowning man 
catching at straws. Skinner however referred him 
to his Affghan companions, and after dinner the 
four retired into a room by tiiemselves. My know- 
ledge of what there took place is gained from poor 
Skinner's own relation, as given during my subse- 
quent captivity with him in Akber's house. Ma- 
homed Sudeeq disclosed Mahomed Akber's propo- 
sition to the Envoy, which was, that tiie following 
day Sir William should meet him (Mahomed Ak- 
ber) ajid a few of his immediate friends, viz. the 
chiefs of the Eastern Giljyes, outside the canton- 
ments, when a final agreement should be made, so 
as to be fully understood by both parlies ; that Sir 
William should' have a considerable body of troops 
in readiness, which, on a given signal, were to join 
with those of Mahomed Akber and the Giljyes, 
assault and take Mahmood Klian's fort, and secure 
the person of Ameenoollah. At this stage of the 
proposition Mahomed Sudeeq signified that, for a 
certain sum of money, the head of Ameenoollah 
should be presenled to the Envoy; but from this 
Sir William shrunk with abhorrence, declaring that 
it was neither his custom nor that of his country 
to give a price for blood. Mahomed Sudeeq then 
went on to say, that, after having subdued the rest 
of the Khans, the English should be permitted to 
remain in the country eight months longer, so as 
to save their purdah (veil, or credit), but they were 
then to evacuate Aflghunistan, as if of their own 
accord ; that Shah Shooja was to continue king of 
the country, and that Mahomed Akber was to be 
his wuzeer, (vizier.) As a further reward for his 
(Mahomed Akber's) assistance, the British Govern- 
ment were to pay him 30 lacs of rupees, and 4 lacs 
of rupees per annum during his life 1 To this ex- 
traordinary and wild proposal. Sir William gave 
ear with an eagerness which nothing can account 
for but the supposition, confirmed by many other 
circumstances, that his strong mind had been 
harassed, until it had, in some degree, lost its equi- 
poise ; and he not only assented fully to these 
terms, but actually gave a Persian paper to that 
effect, written in his own hand, declaring as his 
motives that it was not only an excellent opportu- 
nity to carry into effect the real wishes of govern- 
ment, which were to evacuate the country with as 
much credit to ourselves as possible, but that it 
would give England time to enter into a treaty 
with Russia, defining the bounds beyond which 
neither were to pass in Central Asia. So ended 
this fatal conference, the nature and result of which, 
contrary to his usual custom. Sir William com- 
municated to none of those, who, on all former oc- 
casions, were fully in his confidence, viz. Trevor, 
Lawrence, and myself It seemed as if he feared 
that we might insist on the im])racticability of the 
plan, which he must have studiously concealed 
from himself All the following morning his 
manner was distracted and hurried in a way that 



none of us had ever before witnessed. It seems 
that Mahomed Akber had demanded a favourite 
Arab horse, belonging to Captain Grant, Assist- 
AdjGen. of force. To avoid the necessity of part- 
ing with the animal. Captain Grant had fixed his 
price at the exorbitant sum of 5000 rupees ; un- 
willing to give so large a price, but determined to 
gratify the Sirdar, Sir William sent me to Captain 
Grant to prevail upon him to take a smaller sum, 
but with orders that if he were peremptory, the 
5000 rupees should be given. I obtained the horse 
for 3000 rupees, and Sir William appeared much 
pleased with the prospect of gratifying Mahomed 
Akber by the present. 

After breakfast, Trevor, Lawrence, and myself 
were summoned to attend the Envoy during his 
conference with Mahomed Akber Khan. I found 
him alone, when for the first time, he disclosed to 
me the nature of the transaction he was engaged 
in, I immediately warned him that it was a plot 
against him. He replied hastily, " A plot I let me 
alone for that, trust me for that !" and I conse- 
quently offered no further remonstrance. Sir Wil- 
liam then arranged with Gen. Elphinstone that 
the 54th regiment, under Major Ewart, should be 
held in readiness for immediate service. The Shah's 
6th, and two guns, were also warned. It is a curious 
circumstance, and betrays the unhappy vacillation 
of poor Elphinstone, that after Sir William had ac- 
tually quitted the cantonment in full expectation 
that every thing had been arranged according to 
his desire, he (the General) addressed a letter to 
him, which never reached him, remonstrating on 
the danger of the proposed attack, and strongly ob- 
jecting to the employment of the two above regi- 
ments. About 12 o'clock Sir William, Trevor, 
Lawrence, and myself set forth on our ill-omened 
expedition. As we approached the Seeah Sung 
gate, Sir William observed with much vexation 
that the troops were not in readiness, protesting at 
the same time, however, that, desperate as the 
proposed attempt was, it was better that it should 
be made, and that a thousand deaths were preferable 
to the life he had lately led. 

After passing the gate, he remembered the horse 
which he had intended as a present for Akber, and 
sent me back for it. When I rejoined him, I found 
that the small number of the body guard who had 
accompanied him had been ordered to halt, and 
that he, Trevor, and Lawrence, had advanced in the 
direction of Mahomed Khan's fort, being some 500 
or GOO yards from the eastern rampart, and were 
there awaiting the approach of Mahomed Akber 
and his party, who now made their appearance. 
Close by were some hillocks, on the further side of 
which from the cantonment a carpet was spread 
where the snow lay least thick, and there the Khans 
and Sir William sat down to hold their conference. 
Men talk of presentiment; I suppose it was some- 
thing of the kind which came over me, for I could 
scarcely prevail upon myself to quit my horse. 
I did so, however, and was invited to sit down 
among the Sirdars. After the usual salutations 
Mahomed Akber commenced business, by asking 
the Envoy if he was perfectly ready to carry into 
effect the proposition of the preceding night? The 
Envoy replied, "Why not?" My attention was 
then called off by an old Affghan acquaintance of 
mine, formerly chief of the Cabul police, by name 
Gholam Moyun-ood-deen. I rose from my recum- 
bent posture, and stood apart with him conversing. 



/ 



40 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



I afterwards remembered that my friend betrayed 
much anxiety as to where my pistols were and 
why I did not carry them on my person. I 
answered that although I wore my sword for form, 
it was not necessary at a friendly conference to be 
armed cap-d-pee. His discourse was also full of 
extravagant compliments, I suppose for the purpose 
of lulling me to sleep. At length my attention was 
called off from what he was saying, by observing 
that a number of men, armed to the teeth, had 
gradually approached to the scene of conference, 
and were drawing round in a sort of circle. This 
Lawrence and myself pointed out to some of the 
chief men, who affected at first to drive them off 
with whips ; but Mahomed Akber observed that it 
was of no consequence, as they were in the secret. 
I again resumed my conversation with Gholam 
Moyun-ood-deen, when suddenly I heard Mahomed 
Akber call out, " Begeer ! begeer !" (seize I seize !) 
and turning round, I saw him grasp the Envoy's 
left hand with an expression in his face of the 
most diabolical ferocity. I think it was Sultan Jan 
who laid hold of the Envoy's right hand. They 
dragged him in a stooping posture down the hillock, 
the only words I heard poor Sir William utter 
being, " Az barae Khooda" (for God's sake) ! I 
saw his face, however, and it was full of horror and 
astonishment. I did not see what became of 
'Trevor, but Lawrence was dragged past me by 
■several Affghans, whom I saw wrest his weapons 
from him. Up to this moment I was so engrossed 
in observing what was taking place, that I actually 
was not aware that my own right arm was 
mastered, that my urbane friend held a pistol to my 
temple, and that I was surrounded by a circle of 
Ghazees with drawn swords and cocked juzails. 
Resistance was in vain ; so, listening to the exhor- 
tations of Gholam Moyun-ood-deen, which were 
enforced by the whistling of divers bullets over my 
head, I hurried through the snow with him to the 
place where his horse was standing, being despoiled 
«n route of my sabre, and narrowly escaping divers 
attempts made on my life. As I mounted behind 
my captor, now my energetic defender, the crowd 
increased around us, the cries of "Kill the Kafir !" 
became more vehement, and although we hurried 
on at a fast canter, it was with the utmost difficulty 
Gholam Moyun-ood-deen, although assisted by one 
or two friends or followers, could ward off and 
avoid the sword-cuts aimed at mc, the rascals being 
afraid to fire lest they should kill my conductor. 
Indeed he was obliged to wheel his horse round 
once, and taking off his turban (the last appeal a 
Mussulman can make), to implore them for God's 
sake to respect the life of his friend. At last, as- 
cending a slippery bank, the horse fell. My cap 
had been snatched off, and I now received a heavy 
blow on the head from a bludgeon, which fortu- 
nately did not quite deprive mc of my senses. I 
had sufiicient sense left to shoot ahead of the fallen 
horse, where my protector with another man joined 
mc, and clasping me in their arms, hurried me to- 
wards the wall of Mahomed Khan's fort. How I 
reached the spot where Mahomed Akber was re- 
ceivi^g the gratulations of the multitude I know 
not, but I remember a fanatic rushing on me and 
twisting his hand in my collar until I became ex- 
hausted from suffocation. I must do Mahomed 
Akber the justice to say, that, finding the Ghazees 
bent on my slaughter, even after I had reached his 
stirrup, he drew his sword and laid about him right 



manfully, for my conductor and Meerza B&.oodecn 
Khan were obliged lo press me up against the wall, 
covering me with their own bodies, and protesting 
that no blow should reach me but through their 
persons. 

Pride, however, overcame Mahomed Akber'a 
sense of courtesy, when he thought I was safe, for 
he then turned round to me, and repeatedly said in 
a tone of triumphant derision, "Shuma moolk-i-ma 
me geered !" ( YouHl seize my country, will you !) 
he then rode off, and I was hurried towards the 
gate of the fort. Here new dangers awaited me ; 
for MooUah Momin, fresh from the slaughter of 
poor Trevor, who was killed riding close behind me, 
— Sultan Jan having the credit of having given him 
the first sabre cut, — stood here with his followers, 
whom he exhorted to slay me, setting them the ex- 
ample by cutting fiercely at me himself. Fortu- 
nately a gun stood between us, but still he would 
have effected his purpose, had not Mahomed Shah 
Khan at that instant, with some followers, come to 
my assistance. These drew their swords in my 
defence, the chief himself throwing his arm around 
my neck, and receiving on his shoulder a cut aimed 
by MooUah Momin at my head. During the bustle 
I pushed forward into the fort, and was immediately 
taken to a sort of dungeon, where I found Lawrence 
safe, but somewhat exhausted by his hideous ride 
and the violence he had sustained, although un- 
wounded. Here the Giljye chiefs, Mahomed Shah 
Khan, and his brother Dost Mahomed Khan, pre- 
sently joined us, and endeavoured to cheer up our 
flagging spirits, assuring us that the Envoy and 
Trevor were not dead, but on the contrary quite 
well. They stayed with us during the afternoon, 
their presence being absolutely necessary for our 
protection. Many attempts were made by the fana- 
tics to force the door to accomplish our destruction. 
Others spit at us and abused us through a small 
window, through which one fellow levelled a blun- 
derbuss at us, which was struck up by our keepers 
andhimself thrust back. At last AmeenooUah made 
his appearance, and threatened us with instant 
death. Some of his people most officiously advanced 
to make good his word, until pushed back by the 
Giljye chiefs, who remonstrated with this iniquitous 
old monster, their master, whom they persuaded to 
relieve us from his hateful presence. During the 
afternoon, a human hand was held up in mockery 
to us at the window. We said that it had belonged 
to an European, but were not aware at the time 
that it was actually the hand of the poor Envoy. 
Of all the Mahomedans assembled in the room dis- 
cussing the events of the day, one only, an old 
Moolah, openly and fearlessly condemned the acts 
of his brethren, declaring that the treachery was 
abominable, and a disgrace to Islam. At night 
they brought us food, and gave us each a postheen 
to sleep on. At midnight we were awakened to go / 
to the house of Mahomed Akber in the city. Ma-f 
homed Shah Khan then, with the meanness com-' 
mon to all Affghans of rank, robbed Lawrence of 
his watch, wliile his brother did me a similar favour. 
I had been plundered of my rings and every thing 
else previously, by the understrappers. 

Reaching Mahomed Akber's abode, we were 
shown into the room where he lay in bed. He re- 
ceived us with great outward show of courtesy, 
assuring us of the welfare of the Envoy and Trevor, 
but there was a constraint in his manner for which 
I could not account We were shortly taken to 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



41 



another apartment, where we fonnd Skhiner, who 
had returned, being on parole, early in the morning. 
Doubt and gloom marked our meeting, and the 
latter was fearfully deepened by the intelligence 
which we now received from our fellow-captive of 
the base murder of Sir William and Trevor. He 
informed us that the head of the former had been 
carried about the cily in triumph. We of course 
spent a miserable night. The next day we were 
taken under a strong guard to the house of Zemari 
Khan, where a council of the Khans was being 
held. Here we found Captains Conolly and Airey, 
who had some days previously been sent to the hur- 
wah's house as hostages for the performance of cer- 
tain parts of the treaty which was to have been 
entered into. A violent discussion took place, in 
which Mahomed Akber bore the most prominent 
part. We were vehemently accused of treachery, 
and every thing that was bad, and told that the 
whole of the transactions of the night previous had 
been a trick of Mahomed Akber, and Ameenoollah, 
to ascertain the Envoy's sincerity. They declared 
that they would now grant us no terms, save on the 
surrender of the whole of the married families as 
hostages, all the guns, ammunition, and treasure. 
At this time Conolly told me that on the preceding 
day the Envoy's head had been paraded about in 
the court-yard; that his and Trevor's bodies had 
been hung up in the public bazar, or chouk ; and that 
it was with the greatest difficulty that the old hur- 
wah, Zuman Khan, had saved him and Airey from 
being murdered by a body of fanatics, who had 
attempted to rush into the room where they were. 
Also that previous to the arrival of Lawrence, Skin, 
ner, and myself, Mahomed Akber had been relating 
the events of the preceding day to the Jeerga or 
council, and that he had unguardedly avowed hav- 
ing, while endeavouring to force the Envoy either 
to mount on horseback or to move more quickly, 
struck him, and that, seeing Conolly's eyes fastened 
upon him with an expression of intense indignation, 
he had altered the phrase and said, " I mean I 
pushed him." 

After an immense deal of gabble, a proposal for 
a renewal of the treaty, not, however, demanding 
all the guns, was determined to be sent to the can- 
tonments, and Skinner, Lawrence, and myself were 
marched back to Akber's house, enduring en route 
all manner of threats and insults. Here we were 
closely confined in an inner apartment, which was 
indeed necessary for our safety. That evening we 
received a visit from Mahomed Akber, Sultan Jan, 
and several other Affghans. Mahomed Akber 
exhibited his double-barrelled pistols to us, which 
he had worn the previous day, requesting us to put 
their locks to rights, something being amiss. Two 
of the barrels had been recently discharged, which 
he endeavoured in a most confused way to account 
for by saying, that he had been charged by a 
havildar of the escort, and had fired both barrels at 
him. Now all the escort had run away without 
even attempting to charge, the only man who ad- 
vanced to the rescue having been a Hindoo Jema- 
dar of Chuprassies, who was instantly cut to 
pieces by the assembled Ghazees. This defence he 
made without any accusation on our part, betraying 
the anxiety of a liar to be believed. On the 26th, 
Capt. Lawrence was taken to the house of Amee- 
noollah, whence he did not return to us. Captain 
Skinner and myself remained in Akber's house 
until the 30th. During this time we were civilly 

6 



treated, and conversed with numbers of AfFghan 
gentlemen who came to visit us. Some of tiiem 
asserted that the Envoy had been murdered by the 
unruly soldiery. Others could not deny that Akber 
himself was the assassin. For two or three days 
we had a fellow-prisoner in poor Sirwar Khan, 
who had been deceived throughout the whole mat- 
ter, and out of whom they were then endeavouring 
to screw money. He of course was aware from 
his countrymen that, not only had Akber committed 
the murder, but that he protested to the Ghazees 
that he gloried in the deed. On one occasion a 
moonshee of Major Pottinger, who had escaped 
from Charekhar, named Mohun Beer, came direct 
from the presence of Mahomed Akber to visit us. 
He told us that Mahomed Akber had begun to see 
the impolicy of having murdered the Envoy, which 
fact he had just avowed to him, shedding many 
tears either of pretended remorse, or of real vexa- 
tion, at having committed himself. On several 
occasions Mahomed Akber personally, and by 
deputy, besought Skinner and myself to give him 
advice, as to how he was to extricate himself from 
the dilemma in which he was placed, more than 
once endeavouring to excuse himself for not having 
effectually protected the Envoy, by saying that Sir 
William had drawn a sword stick upon him. It 
seems that meanwhile the renewed negotiations 
with Major Pottinger, who had assumed the En- 
voy's place in cantonments, had been brought to a 
head, for on the night of the 30th, Akber furnished 
me with an AfFghan dress (Skinner already wore 
one) and sent us both back to cantonments. Several 
.\fFghans, with whom I fell in afterwards, pro- 
tested to me that they had seen Mahomed Akber 
shoot the Envoy with his own hand ; amongst them 
Meerza Baoodeen Khan, who, being an old ac- 
quaintance, always retained a sneaking kindness 
for the English, 

I am, my dear Eyre, yours very truly, 

C, Mackenzie. 
Cabul, 29th July, 1842. 

(True copy.) 
Vint. Eyre, Lieut. Bengal Artillery. 

Letter addressed by Captain G. St. P. Lawrence, 
late Military Secretary to the Envoy, to Major 
E. Pottinger, C.B., late in charge of the Cabul 
Mission. 

Sir, 

Is compliance with your request, I have the 
honour to detail the particulars of my capture, and 
of the death of my ever-to-be-lamented chief. 

On the morning of the 23d December, at 11 
A. M., I received a note from the late Sir W. H, 
Macnaghten, warning me to attend, with Captains 
Trevor and Mackenzie, an interview he was about 
to have with Sirdar Mahomed Akber Khan. Ac- 
cordingly, with the above-named officers, at about 
12, I accompanied Sir William, having previously 
heard him tell Major-General Elphinstone to have 
two regiments of infantry and two guns ready for 
secret service. In passing through cantonments, 
on my observing that there were more Affghans in 
cantonments than usual, or than I deemed safe, the 
Envoy directed one of his Affghan attendants to 
proceed and cause them all to leave, at the same 
time remarking, how strange it was that, although 
the General was fully acquainted with the then 
very critical state of affairs, no preparations ap- 
peared to have been made, adding, "however, it 



42 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



is all of a piece with the military arrangements 
throughout the siege." He then said, " There is 
not enough of the escort with us," to which I 
replied, that he had only ordered eight or ten, but 
that I had brought sixteen, and that I would send 
for the remainder, which I accordingly did, asking 
Lieut. Le Geyt to bring them, and to tell Brigadier 
Shelton, who had expressed a wish to attend the 
next interview, that he might accompany them. 
On passing the gate, we observed some hundreds 
of armed Atfghans within a few yards of it, on 
which I called to the officer on duty to get the 
reserve under arms, and brought outside to disperse 
them, and to send to the General to have the garri- 
son on the alert. Towards Mahmood Khan's fort, 
were a number of armed Affghans, but we observed 
none nearer. 

The Envoy now told us that he, on the night 
previous, had received a proposal from Sirdar Ma- 
homed Akber Khan to which he had agreed, and 
that he had every reason to hope it would bring 
our present difficulties to an early and happy ter- 
mination ; that Mahomed Akber Khan was to give 
up Naib Ameenooilah Khan as a prisoner to us, 
for which purpose a regiment was to proceed to 
Mahmood Kiian's fort, and another corps was to 
occupy the Bala Hissar. Sir William then warned 
me to be ready to gallop to the king with the intelli- 
gence of the approach of the regiment, and to 
acquaint him with Akber's proposal. On one of 
us remarking that the scheme seemed a dangerous 
one, and asking if he did not apprehend any 
treachery, he replied : " Dangerous it is, but, if it 
succeeds, it is worth all risks ; the rebels have not 
fulfilled even one article of the treaty, and I have 
no confidence in them, and if by it we can only 
save our honour, all will be well; at any rate, I 
would rather suffer an hundred deaths, than live 
the last six weeks over again." We proceeded to 
near the usual spot, and met Sirdar Mahomed 
Akber Khan, who was accompanied by several 
Giljye chiefs, Mahomed Shah Khan, Dost Maho- 
med Khan, Khoda Bux Khan, Azad Khan, &c. 
After the usual salutations, the Envoy presented a 
valuable horse which Akber had asked for, and 
which had been that mornirig purchased from 
Capt. Grant for 3000 rupees. The Sirdar acknow- 
ledged the attention, and expressed his thanks for 
a handsome brace of double-barrelled pistols which 
the Envoy had purchased from me, and sent to 
him, with his carriage and pair of horses, the day 
before. 

The party dismounted, and horse clothes were 
spread on a small hillock which partially concealed 
us from cantonments, and which was chosen, they 
said, as being free from snow. The Envoy threw 
himself on the bank with Mahomed Akber and 
Captains Trevor and Mackenzie beside him ; I 
stood behind Sir William till, pressed by Dost 
Mahomed Khan, I knelt on one knee, having first 
called the Envoy's attention to the number of 
Affghans around us, saying that if the subject of 
the conference was of that secret nature I believed 
it to be, they had better be removed. He spoke to 
Mahomed Akber, who replied, " No, they are all in 
the secret." Hardly had he so said, when I found 
my arms locked, my pistols and sword wrenched 
from my belt, and myself forcibly raised from the 
ground and pushed along, Mahomed Shah Khan, 
who held me, calling out, "Come along, if you 
value your life." I turned, and saw the Envoy 



lying, his head where his heels had been, and his 
hands locked in Mahomed Akber's, consternation 
and horror depicted in his countenance. Seeing I 
could do nothing, I let myself be pulled on by 
Mahomed Shah Khan. Some shots were fired, 
and I was hurried to his horse, on which he 
jumped, telling me to get up behind, which I did, 
and we proceeded, escorted by several armed men 
who kept off a crowd of Ghazees, who sprang up 
on every side shouting for me to be given up for 
them to slay, cutting at me with their swords and 
knives, and poking me in the ribs with their guns : 
they were afraid to fire, lest they should injure 
their chief. The horsemen kept them pretty well 
off, but not sufficiently so to prevent my being 
much bruised. In this manner we hurried to- 
wards Mahomed Khan's fort, near which we met 
some hundreds of horsemen who were keeping off 
the Ghazees, who were here in greater numbers, 
and more vociferous for my blood. We, however, 
reached the fort in safety, and I was pushed into a 
small room, Mahomed Shah Khan returning to the 
gate of the fort, and bringing in Capt. Mackenzie, 
whose horse had there fallen. This he did, re- 
ceiving a cut through his neencha (Scother coat) 
on his arm, which was aimed at that officer, who 
was ushered into the room with me much exhausted 
and bruised from blows on his head and body. We 
sat down with some soldiers who were put over us 
with a view to protect us from the mob, who now 
surrounded the house, and who till dark continued 
execrating and spitting at us, calling on the men 
to give us up to be slaughtered. 

One produced a hand (European) which appeared 
to have been recently cut off; another presented a 
blunderbuss, and was about to fire it, when it was 
knocked aside by one of our guard. Several of the 
Sirdars came in during the day, and told us to be 
assured that no harm should befal us ; that the 
Envoy and Trevor were safe in the city (a false- 
hood, as will be afterwards seen). Naib Amee- 
nooilah Khan and his sons also came. The former, 
in great wrath, said that we either should be, or 
deserved to be, blown away from a gun. Mahomed 
Shah Khan and Dost Mahomed Khan begged he 
would not so talk, and took him out of the room. 
Towards night food was given to us, and postheens 
to sleep on : our watches, rings, and silk handker- 
chiefs were taken from us ; but in all other re- 
spects we were unmolested. 

The followers of Mahomed Shah Khan repeat- 
edly congratulated him on the events of the day, 
with one exception, viz. an old Moollah, who loudly 
exclaimed that " the name of the faithful was tar- 
nished, and that in future no belief could be placed 
in them ; that the deed was foul and could never 
be of advantage to the authors." At midnight we 
were taken through the city to the house of Maho- 
med Akber Khan, who received us courteously, 
lamenting the occurrences of the day : here we 
found Captain Skinner, and for the first time heard 
the dreadful and astounding intelligence of the 
murder of the Envoy and Captain Trevor, and that 
our lamented chief's head had been paraded through 
the city in triumph, and his trunk, after being 
dragged through the streets, stuck up in the Char 
Chouk, the most conspicuous part of the town. 
Captain Skinner told us, that the report was, that 
on Mahomed Akber Khan's telling Sir William to 
accompany him, he refused, resisted, and pushed 
the Sirdar from him ; that in consequence he was 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



43 



immediately shot and liis body cut to pieces by the 
Ghazees ; that Captain Trevor had been conveyed 
behind Dost Mahomed Khan as far as Mahomed 
Khan's fort, where he was cut down, but that his 
body was not mangled, though carried in triumph 
through the city. On the following morning (24th) 
we (Captain Skinner, Mackenzie, and self) were 
taken to Nuwab Zuman Khan's house, escorted by 
Sultan Jan and other chiefs, to protect us from the 
Ghazees ; there we met Captains Conolly and Airey 
(hostages) and all the rebel Sirdars assembled in 
council. The Envoy's death was lamented, but 
his conduct severely censured, and it was said that 
now no faith could be placed in our words, A new 
treaty however was discussed, and sent to the Ge- 
neral and Major Pottinger, and towards evening we 
returned as we came to Mahomed Akber's, where I 
remained a prisoner, but well and courteously 
treated till the morning of the 26th, when I was 
sent to Naib Ameenoollah Khan. On reaching 
his house I was ushered into his private apartment. 
The Naib received me kindly, showed me the En- 
voy's original letter in reply to Mahomed Akber's 
proposition, touching his being made Shah Shujah's 
Wuzeer, receiving a lack of rupees on giving the 
Naib a prisoner to us, thirty lacks on the final set- 
tlement of the insurrection, &,c. To this the Naib 
added that the Envoy had told Mahomed Akber's 
cousin that a lack of rupees would be given for his 
(Ameenoollah Khan's) head. I promptly replied, 
" 'tis false," that Sir William had never done so, 
that it was utterly foreign and repugnant to his 
nature, and to British usage. The Naib expressed 
himself in strong terms against the Envoy, con- 
trasting his own fair and open conduct with that 
of Sir William. He told me that General Elphin- 
stone and Major Pottinger had begged I might be 
released, as my presence was necessary to enable 
them to prepare bills on India, which it had been 
arranged the Sirdars were to get. After some delay, 
consequent on my asking for Captain Mackenzie 
to be released with me, and Mahomed Akber's 
stoutly refusing the release of either of us, I was 
sent into cantonments on the morning of the 29th, 
escorted by the Niab's eldest son and a strong party 
of horse and foot, being disguised as an Affghan 
for my greater protection. I must here record that 
nothing could exceed the Naib's kindness and at- 
tention to me while under his roof. 
I have, &c, &c. 

(Signed) G. St. P. Lawrence, 

Military Secretary 
to the late Envoy aud Minister. 

Camp Zoudah, 
Ten miles South of Tezeen, 

lOlh May, 1842. 

(True copy.) 
Vint. Eyre, Lieut. Bengal Artillery. 



CHAPTER IX. 

How we avenged him ! Council of War. Terms 
accepted. Hostages given. Postponement of de- 
parture. 

But what vpere our troops about all this time "? 
Were no steps taken to rescue the Envoy and 
his friends from their perilous position 1 Where 
was the body-guard which followed them from 
cantonments"] These questions will naturally 
occur to all who read the foregoing pages, and 



I wish it were in my power to render satisfac- 
tory answers. 

The body-guard had only got a few hundred 
yards from the gate in their progress to the 
scene of conference, when they suddenly faced 
about and came galloping back, several shots 
being fired at them in their retreat, Lieut. Le 
Geyt, in passing through the gate, exclaimed 
that the Envoy had been carried off, and it was 
believed that, finding his men would not advance 
to the rescue, he came back for assistance. 
But the intelligence he brought, instead of 
rousing our leaders to instant action, seemed to 
paralyze their faculties ; and although it was 
evident that our Envoy had been basejy en- 
trapped, if not actually murdered, before our 
very gate, and though even now crowds of A.ff- 
ghans, horse and foot, were seen passing and 
repassing to and fro in hostile array, between 
Mahomed's fort and the place of meeting, not a 
gun was opened upon them ; not a soldier was 
stirred from his post ; no sortie was apparently 
even thought of; treachery was allowed to tri- 
umph in open day; the murder of a British 
Envoy was perpetrated in the face and within 
musket-shot of a British army ; and not only 
was no effort made to avenge the dastardly deed, 
but the body was left lying on the plain to be 
mangled and insulted, and finally carried off to 
be paraded in the public market by a ruffianly 
mob of fanatical barbarians. 

Intense was the anxiety and wretched the 
suspense felc by all during the rest of the day, 
A number of Affghans, who were trafficking in 
cantonments at the time of the conference, on 
hearing the report of fire-arms in that direction, 
endeavoured to escape, but were detained by 
the officer at the gate. No certain tidings re- 
garding the Envoy could be obtained : many 
confidently affirmed that he was alive and un- 
harmed in Mahomed's fort ; but Lieut. Warren 
stoutly maintained that he had kept his eye 
upon Sir William from the moment of his 
leaving the gate, and had distinctly seen him 
fall to the ground, and the Affghans hacking at 
his body. The agony of his poor wife during 
this dread interval of suspense may be imagined, 

December 24.th. — The fate of the Envoy and 
his three companions remained a mystery, until 
the arrival of a note from Capt. Conolly notify- 
ing his death and that of Capt, Trevor, and the 
safety of Capts, Lawrence and Mackenzie. 

The two latter officers had been that morning' 
escorted to a conference of chiefs at the house 
of Nuwab Zuman Khan, where the late Envoy's 
conduct was severely commented on ; but his 
death was nevertheless lamented. The treaty 
was again discussed ; and, after a few altera- 
tions and additions had been made, it was sent 
to Gen. Elphinstone, with an explanation of the 
breach of faith which had cost the Envoy his 
life. 

Gen. Elphinstone now requested Major Pot- 
tinger to assume the office of political agent and 
adviser, which, though still suffering greatly from 
his wound, and incapacitated from active bodily 



44 



/ 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



exertion, that gallant officer's strict sense of 
public duty forbade him to decline, although he 
plainly perceived our affairs to be so irretrieva- 
bly ruined, as to render the distinction any thing 
but enviable, or likely to improve his hardly- 
earned fame. 

The additional clauses in the treaty now pro- 
posed for our renewed acceptance were — 1st. 
That we should leave behind all our guns, ex- 
cepting six. 2nd. That we should immediately 
give up all our treasures. 3rd. That the hos- 
tages should all be exchanged for married men, 
with their wives and families. The difficulties 
of Major Pottinger's position will be readily 
perceived, when it is borne in mind that he had 
before him the most conclusive evidence of the 
late Envoy's ill-advised intrigue with Mahomed 
Akber Khan, in direct violation of that very 
treaty, which was now once more tendered for 
consideration. 

December 25tk. — A more cheerless Christ- 
mas-day perhaps never dawned upon British 
soldiers in a strange land ; and the few whom 
the force of habit urged to exchange the cus- 
tomary greetings of the season, did so with 
countenances and in tones indicative of any 
thing but merriment. At night there was an 
alarm, and the drum beat to arms, but nothing 
occurred of any consequence. 

December 26th. — Letters were received from 
Capt. Mackeson, political agent at Peshawur, 
announcing the march of strong reinforcements 
from India. An offer was made by Mahomed 
Osman Khan to escort us all safe to Peshawur 
for five lacs of rupees ; and shortly after this 
the Naib Ameer arrived, with a verbal agree- 
ment to certain amendments which had been 
proposed in the treaty by Major Pottinger. He 
was accompanied by a Cashnieer merchant and 
several Hindoo shroffs, for the purpose of nego- 
tiating bills to the amount of fourteen lacs°of 
rupees, payable to the several chiefs on the pro- 
mise of the late Envoy. 

Major Pottinger being altogether averse from 
the payment of this money, and indeed strongly 
opposed to any treaty binding the Indian go- 
vernment to a course of policy which it might 
find inconvenient to adopt, a council of war was 
convened by the General, consisting of himself, 
Brigadiers Shelton and Anquetil, Col, Chambers, 
Capt. Belle w. Assist. Qr.-Mast.-Gen., and Capt. 
Grant, Assist. Adjt.-Gen. In the presence of 
this council, Major Pottinger declared his con- 
viction that no confidence could be placed in any 
treaty formed with the Affghan chiefs; that, 
under such circumstances, to bind the hands of 
government, by promising to evacuate the 
country, and to restore the deposed Ameer, and 
to waste moreover so much public money, 
merely to save our own lives and property, 
would be inconsistent with the duty we owed 
our country and the government we served ; 
and that the only honourable course would be 
either to hold out to the last at Cabul, or to 
force our immediate retreat to Jellalabad. 
. This, however, the officers composing the 



council, one and all, declared to be impracticable, 
owing to the want of provisions, the surrender 
of the surrounding forts, and the insuperable 
difficulties of the road at the present season ; 
they therefore deemed it preferable to pay any 
sum of money, rather than sacrifice the whole 
force in a hopeless prolongation of hostilities. 
It was accordingly determined, nem. con., that 
Major Pottinger should at once renew the nego- 
tiations which had been commenced by Sir 
William Macnaghten, and that the sums pro- 
mised to the chiefs by that functionary previous 
to his murder should be paid. 

Major Pottinger's objections being thus over- 
ruled, the tendered treaty was forthwith accept- 
ed, and a requisition was made for the release 
of Capt. Lawrence, whose presence was neces- 
sary to prepare the bills on India. Four mar- 
ried hostages, with their wives and children, 
being required by the chiefs, a circular was 
sent round, to ascertain if that number would 
volunteer to remain, a salary of 2000 rupees 
per month being guaranteed to each, as an in- 
ducement. 

Such, however, was the horror entertained of 
Affghan treachery since the late tragical occur- 
rence, that some officers went so far as to say 
they would sooner shoot their wives at once, 
than commit them to the charge of men, who 
had proved themselves devoid of common honour 
and humanity. There were, in fact, but one or 
two who consented to stay, if the General con- 
sidered that by so doing they would benefit the 
public service. 

December 27th. — The chiefs were informed 
that it was contrary to the usages of war to 
give up ladies as hostages, and that the General 
could not consent to an arrangement, which 
would brand him with perpetual disgrace in his 
own country. 

December 29th. — The Naib Ameer came in 
from the city with Capt. Lawrence and the 
shroffs, when the bills were prepared without 
farther delay. Capts. Drummond, Walsh, War- 
burton, and Webb, having been accepted as 
hostages, were sent to join Capts. Conolly and 
Airey at the house of Nuwab Zuman Khan. A 
portion of the sick and wounded, amongst whom 
was Lieut. Haughton of the Goorkha regiment, 
were likewise conveyed to the city, and placed 
under the protection of the chiefs. Three of 
the Shah's guns, with the greater portion of 
our treasure, were made over during the day, 
much to the evident disgust of the soldiery. 

December SOth. — The remainder of the sick 
went into the city, Lieut. Evans, H. M.'s 44th 
foot being placed in command, and Dr. Camp- 
bell, 54th N. I., with Dr. Berwick of the Mis- 
sion, in medical charge of the whole. Two 
more of the Shah's guns were given up. It 
snowed hard the whole day. A crowd of 
armed Giljyes and Ghazees took up a threatening 
position close to the eastern gate, and even 
attempted to force an entrance into canton- 
ments; Much annoyance was daily expe- 
rienced from these people, who were in the 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



45 



habit of plundering the peaceable dealers, who 
flocked in from the city with grain and forage, 
the moment they issued from the cantonments ; 
they even committed frequent assaults on our 
Sepoys, and orders to fire on them on such 
occasions were repeatedly solicited in vain, al- 
though it was well known that the chiefs them- 
selves advised us to do so, and the General had 
given Brigadier Shelton positive instructions to 
that effect, whenever circumstances might ren- 
der it advisable. The consequence was that 
our soldiers were daily constrained to endure 
the most insulting and contemptuous taunts and 
treatment, from fellows whom a single charge 
of bayonets would have scattered like chaff, but 
who were emboldened by the apparent lame- 
ness of our troops, which they doubtless attri- 
buted to the want of common pluck, rather than 
to the restraints of discipline. Capt. Mackenzie 
and Skinner obtained their release this evening, 
the latter officer having, since the outbreak 
of the rebellion, passed through some curious 
adventures, in the disguise of an Affghan 
female. 

January 5th. — Affairs continued in the same 
unsettled state until this date. The chiefs post- 
poned our departure from day to day on divers 
pretexts. It had been agreed that Nuwab 
Jubbar Khan should escort us to Jellalabad with 
about 2000 followers, who were to be entertained 
for that purpose. 

It is supposed that, up to the very last, the 
majority of chiefs doubled the reality of our in- 
tention to depart: and many, fearful of the civil 
discords for which our retreat would be the 
signal, would have gladly detained us at Cabul. 
Attempts were made continually by Akber Khan 
to wean the Hindoostanees from their allegiance, 
and to induce them to desert. Numerous cau- 
tions were received from various well-wishers, 
to place no confidence in the professions of the 
chiefs, who had sworn together to accomplish 
our entire destruction. Shah Shoojah himself 
sent more than one solemn warning, and, finding 
we were bent on taking our own course, used 
his utmost endeavours to persuade Lady Mac- 
naghten to take advantage of his protection in 
"^he Bala Hissar. He also appealed to Brigadier 
Anquetil, who commanded the Shah's force, "if 
it were well to forsake him in the hour of need, 
and to deprive him of the aid of that force, 
which he had hitherto been taught to consider 
as his own 1" All was however unavailing. 
The General and his council of war had de- 
termined that go we must, and go we accord- 
ingly did. 



In the foregoing chapters I have offered what 
1 honestly believe to be a faithful narration of 
the dismal train of events which preceded the 
evacuation of Cabul, and the abandonment of 
Shah Shoojah, by the British army. In taking a 
retrospective view of those unprecedented occur- 
rences, it is evident that our reverses may be 



mainly attributed to a lack of ordinary foresight 
and penetration on the part of the chief military 
and civil authorities, on their first entering on 
the occupation of this country ; a country whose 
innumerable fortified strongholds and difficult 
mountain passes, in the hands of a proud and 
warlike population, never really subdued nor 
reconciled to our rule, though unable to oppose 
the march of a disciplined army through their 
land, ought to have induced a more than com- 
mon degree of vigilance and circumspection, in 
making adequate provision against any such 
popular outbreak as might have been anticipa- 
ted, and did actually occur. But, instead of 
applying his undeniable talents to the comple- 
tion of that conquest, which gained him an 
illustrious title and a wide renown. Lord Keane 
contented himself with the superficial success, 
which attended his progress through a country 
hitherto untraversed by an European army, since 
the classic days of Ale.xander the Great; he hur- 
ried off, with too great eagerness to enjoy the 
applause which awaited him in England, and 
left to his successors the far more arduous task 
of securing in their grasp the unwieldy prize, of 
which he had obtained the nominal possession. 

On his return to India, Lord Keane took with 
him a large portion of the Bengal force, with 
which he had arrived at Cabul ; the whole of the 
Bombay troops made a simultaneous homeward 
movement; and the army, with which he had. 
entered Aftghanistan, was thus reduced to a 
miserable moiety, before any steps had been 
taken to guard against surprise by the erection 
of a stronghold on the approved principles of 
modern warfare, or the establishment of a line 
of military posts to keep open our communica- 
tions with India, on which country the army 
must necessarily for a long time have beea 
entirely dependent for the munitions of war.. 
The distance from Cabul to Ferozepore, our 
nearest Indian station, is about 600 miles. Be- 
tween Cabul and Peshawur occur the stupen- 
dous and dangerous defiles of Khoord-Cabul^ 
Tezeen, Purreedurrah, JugduUuk, and Khyber,, 
throughout whose whole extent food and forage; 
are procurable only at long intervals, and even 
then with much difficulty. ^ 

From Peshawur to Ferozepore is the Punjab, 
or country of the Seiks, traversed by five great 
rivers, and occupied by a powerful nation, on 
whose paci6c professions no reliance could be 
placed. Along this extended line of communi- 
cation Lord Keane established but one small soli- 
tary post, in the fort of Ali Musjed, in the heart 
of the Khyber pass. He left behind him, in fact, 
an army, whose isolated position and reduced 
strength offered the strongest possible tempta- 
tion to a proud and restless race, to rally their 
scattered tribes in one grand effort to regain 
their lost independence. 

In Lord Keane's successors may be seen the 
same disposition to be too easily satisfied with 
the outward semblance of tranquillity. Another 
brigade was ere long withdrawn from a force 
already insufficient for any great emergency; 



m 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



nor was their position for holding in subjection a 
vanquished people much improved by their esta- 
blishment in an ill-situated and ill-constructed 
cantonment, with their commissariat stores sepa- 
rated from their lines of defence. To the latter 
mentioned error may be mainly attributed the 
evacuation of Cabul and the destruction of the 
army; for there can be no doubt that, notwith- 
standing all the difficulties of our position, and 
the incompetence of our commanders, had the 
cantonments been well supplied with provisions, 
the troops could have easily held out until the 
arrival of reinforcements from India. The real 
cause of our retreat was, beyond all question, 
famine. We were not driven, but starved, out 
of Cabul ; and although, in my relation of our 
military transactions, I have been compelled by 
a regard to truth unwillingly to record proceed- 
ings°which must be condemned by all, I do not 
the less feel most sensibly that every allowance 
ought in common justice to be made for men, 
who from the very commencement of the con- 
flict, saw the combined horrors of starvation and 
a rigorous winter frowning in their face, — no 
succours within reach, — their retreat cut off, — 
and all their sanguinary efforts either altogether 
fruitless, or at best deferring for a few short 
days the ruin which on every side threatened 
to overwhelm them. 

In connection with this subject, I may be ex- 
cused for quoting, in conclusion, the powerful 
reasoning of a recent writer in the Bombay 
Times : — 

" When a soldier finds that his every move- 
ment is directed by a master mind ; that, when 
he is apparently thrust into the greatest danger, 
he finds, in truth, his greatest security; that his 
march to engage an apparently superior force is 
not a wild sacrifice, but the result of a well-cal- 
culated plan; when he knows that, however ap- 
pearances may be, he is sure to come off with 
honour, for his brethren in arms are already in 
progress to assist him, and will not fail to be 
forthcoming at the hour appoirited; when he 
sees that there is a watchful eye over him, pro- 
viding for all his wants, assisting him to over- 
come all his difficulties, and enabling him to 
reap the fruit of all his successes; when he 
finds that even retreat is but a preparation for 
victory, and, as if guided by Providence, all his 
movements, though to him incomprehensible, 
are sure to prove steps to some great end; — 
when the soldier finds this, he rises and lies 
down in security, and there is no danger which 
he will not brave. But when, in every thing 
ihey undertake, they find the reverse of the 
picture I have drawn; when they are marched, 
as they imagine to glory, but find it is only to 
slaughter; when even victory brings no fruit, 
and retreat they discover to be flight; when the 
support they hope for comes not, and they find 
their labours to be without end or purpose; 
when the provisions they look for daily are 
issued to them no more, and they see all their 
efforts paralysed ; when an army of thousands 
finds itself delivered, bound hand and foot, into 



the hands of a man without system, foresight, or 
military knowledge enough for a sergeant of 
police, the stoutest heart will fail, the bravest 
sink ; for the soldier knows that, do what he 
will, his efforts can only end in ruin and dis- 
honour." 



CHAPTER X. 

The retreat of the army, and its annihilation. 

January 6th. — At last the fatal morning 
dawned which was to witness the departure of 
the Cabul force from the cantonments, in which 
it had sustained a two months' siege, to encoun- 
ter the miseries of a winter march through a 
country of perhaps unparalleled difiiculty, where 
every mountain defile, if obstinately defended 
by a determined enemy, must inevitably prove 
the grave of hundreds. 

Dreary indeed was the scene, over which, 
with drooping spirits and dismal forebodings, 
we had to bend our unwilling steps. Deep 
snow covered every inch of mountain and plain 
with one unspotted sheet of dazzling white, and 
so intensely bitter was the cold, as to penetrate 
and defy the defences of the warmest clothing. 

No signs of the promised escort appeared: 
but at an early hourthe preparations commenced 
for our march. A cut was made through the 
eastern rampart, to open an additional passage 
for the troops and baggage, a sufficient number 
of gun-wagons and platform planks were taken 
down to the river for the formation of a tempo- 
rary bridge, and every available camel and ya- 
hoo (the whole amounting to 2000) was laden 
with military stores, commissariat supplies, and 
such small proportion of camp-equipage as was 
indispensably necessary to shelter the troops in 
a climate of extraordinary rigour. 

The strength of the whole force at this time 
was, so far as can now be ascertained, very 
nearly as follows : — 



1 troop of horse artillery - 90 

H. M.'s 44th foot - - 600 

5th regt. light cavalry, 2 

squad. - - - 260 
5th Shah's irreg. do. (An- 
derson's) - - - 500 
Skinner's horse, 1 ressala - 70 
4th irreg. do. 1 do. - 70 
Mission escort, or body- 
guard, - - - 70 
5th native infantry, - - 700 
37th do. - - - 600 
54th do. - - - 650 
6th Shah's infantry - - 600 
Sappers and miners - - 20 
Shah's do. - - - 240 
Half the mountain train 
Total 
6 horse artillery guns. 
3 mountain train do. 



690 Europeans. 



■ 970 cavalry. 



2840. 



4500 fighting men. 



Besides the above, the camp-followers 
amounted, at a very moderate computation, to 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



47 



about 12,000 men, besides women and children. 
These proved from the very first mile a serious 
clog upon our movements, and were, indeed, 
the main cause of our subsequent misfortunes. 
It is to be devoutly hoped that every future 
commander-in-chief of the Indian army will 
adopt decisive measures, to prevent a force em- 
ployed on field service from being ever again 
afflicted with such a curse. 

The order of march was as follows : — 



H. M.'s 44th foot - 
Sappers and miners - 
Irreg. horse, I squad. 

3 mountain train guns 
The escort, with the ladies 
The invalids and sick 

2 horse artillery guns 

Anderson's irreg. horse - 

37th native infantry, with treasure 

5th native infantry, with baggage 

54th native infantry 

6th Shah's infantry - 

5th light cavalry 

4 horse artillery guns 



The advance, 
under l^ri- 
gadier An- 
quetil. 

Main column, 
under Bri- 
gadier Shel- 
ton. 

Rear-guard, 
under Col. 
Chambers. 



All being ready at 9 a. m., the advance com- 
menced moving out. At this time not a single 
Affghan was to be seen in any direction, and 
the peaceable aspect of affairs gave rise to strong 
hopes that the chiefs intended to remain true 
to their engagements. 

At 10 A. M. a message was brought from Nu- 
wab Jubbar Khan, requesting us to defer our 
departure another day, as his escort was not yet 
ready to accompany us. By this time, however, 
the greater part of the force was in motion, and 
a crowd of AfFghans, who had issued from the 
village of Beymaroo, impatient for plunder, had 
forced their way into the northern cantonment, 
or Mi.«sion Compound (which, owing to some 
mistake, had been evacuated too soon by the 
Shah's 6tli infantry), and were busily engaged 
in the work of pillage and destruction. The 
advance was delayed for upwards of an hour at 
the river, having found the temporary bridge 
incomplete ; and it was noon ere the whole had 
crossed over, leaving a clear road for the main 
column to follow. 

The order of march, in which the troops 
started, was, however, soon lost, and the camp- 
followers with the public and private baggage, 
once out of cantonments, could not be prevented 
from mixing themselves up with the troops, to 
the utter confusion of the whole column. 

The main body, with its long train of laden 
camels, continued to pour out of the gate until 
the evening, by which time thousands of Afl^- 
ghans, the majority of whom were fanatical 
Ghazees, thronged the whole area of canton- 
ments, rending the air with their exulting cries, 
and committing every kind of atrocity. The 
rear-guard, being unable to restrain them, was 
obliged to provide for its own safety by taking 
up a position outside, on the plain, where a 
great quantity of the baggage had been brought 
to a stand-still at the canal (within 150 yards 
of the gate), whose slippery sides afforded no 



safe footing for the beasts of burden. The bridge 
across the river, being by this time impractica- 
ble, occasioned additional delay. 

The Affghans, who had hitherto been too 
busily engaged in the work of plunder and de- 
struction to take much notice of the troops, now 
began to line the ramparts, and annoy them 
with a mischievous fire of juzails, under which 
many fell ; and it became necessary, for the 
preservation of those who remained, to spike 
and abandon two of the horse artillery guns. 

Night had now closed around ; but the Gha- 
zees, having fired the residency and almost 
every other building in the cantonment, the 
conflagration illuminated the surrounding coun- 
try for several miles, presenting a spectacle of 
fearful sublimity. In the mad fervour of their 
religious zeal, these ignorant fanatics even set 
fire to the gun-carriages belonging to the va- 
rious pieces of ordnance, which we had left in 
position round the works, of whose use the Aff- 
ghan chiefs were thus luckily deprived. The 
General had been often urged to destroy these 
guns, rather than suffer them to fall into the 
enemy's hands, but he considered that it would 
have been a breach of the treaty to do so. Be- 
fore the rear-guard commenced its march, Lieut. 
Hardyman of the 5th light cavalry, with fifty 
rank and file, were stretched lifeless on the 
snow. Much baggage was abandoned at start- 
ing, and much was plundered on the road. 
Scores of worn-out Sepoys and camp followers 
lined the way, having sat down in despair to 
perish in the snow. It was 2 a. m. ere the rear- 
guard reached camp at Bygram, a distance of 
only five miles. Here all was confusion. The 
tents had been pitched without the slightest re- 
gard to regularity, those of different regiments 
being huddled together in one intricate mass, 
mixed up with baggage, camp-followers, camels, 
and horses, in a way which beggars description. 
The flimsy canvass of the soldiers' tents was 
but a poor protection from the cold, which 
towards morning became more and more in- 
tense ; and thousands of poor wretched crea- 
tures were obliged to lie down on the bare 
snow, without either shelter, fire, or food. Seve- 
ral died during the night ; amongst whom was 
an European conductor of ordnance. 

About twenty juzailchees, who still held 
faithfully by Capt. Mackenzie, suffered less 
than the rest, owing to their systematic mode 
of proceeding. Their first step on reaching the 
ground was to clear a small space from the 
snow, where they then laid themselves down 
in a circle, closely packed together, with their 
feet meeting in the centre; all the warm cloth- 
ing they could muster among them being spread 
equally over the whole. By these simple means 
sufficient animal warmth was generated to pre- 
serve them from being frost-bitten ; and Capt. 
Mackenzie, who himself shared their homely 
bed, declared that he had felt scarcely any in- 
convenience from the cold. It was different 
with our Sepoys and camp followers, who, hav- 
ing had no former experience of such hardships, 



48 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



were ignorant how they might best provide 
against them, and the proportion of those who 
escaped, without suffering in some degree from 
frost-bites, was very small. Yet this was but 
the beginning of sorrows ! 

January 7th.— At 8 a.m. the force moved off 
in the reverse order of yesterday— if that could 
be called order which consisted of a mingled 
mob of soldiers, camp-followers, and baggage- 
cattle, preserving not even the faintest sem- 
blance of that regularity and discipline, on 
which depended our only chance of escape from 
the dangers which threatened us. Even at this 
early stage of the retreat scarcely one half of 
the Sepoys were fit for duty ; hundreds had, 
from sheer inability to keep their ranks, joined 
the non-combatants, and thus increased the con- 
fusion. As for the Shah's 6th inf , it was no 
where to be found ; only a few straggling files 
were perceptible here and there ; and it was 
generally believed that the majority of the re- 
giment had absconded during the night to Cabul. 

At starting, large clods of hardened snow ad- 
hered so firmly to the hoofs of our horses, that 
a chisel and hammer would have been requi- 
site to dislodge them. The very air we breathed 
froze in its passage out of the mouth and nos- 
trils, forming a coating of small icicles on our 
moustaches and beards. 

The advance proceeded onward without mo- 
lestation, though numerous small bodies of 
Affghan horse and foot were observed hanging 
about our flanks, and moving in a parallel direc- 
tion with ourselves. These were at first sup- 
posed to form a part of our escort, but the mis- 
take was soon discovered by their attacking the 
rear-guard, commanded by Brigadier Anquetil, 
consisting of H. JVI.'s 44th, Lieut. Green's moun- 
tain train guns, and a squadron of irregular 
horse. Much baggage fell into the enemy's 
hands, who, though in some degree kept in 
check by the guns, exhibited a bold front, and 
maintained a harassing fire on our troops, whose 
movements were terribly crippled by the dis- 
orderly multitude that thronged the road in 
front. The latter being for several minutes 
brought to a stand-still by a deep water-cut 
-which intersected the road, the mountain-train 
guns endeavoured to pass clear of them by 
making a short detour, in doing which they got 
separated from the infantry, and — one happen- 
ing at this unlucky moment to upset — the 
enemy seized the opportunity to rush forward 
and capture them, before H. M.'s 44th, who 
saw too late their awkward predicament, could 
render effectual assistance. 

Their re-capture might still have been ef- 
fected, could the soldiers have been prevailed 
upon to make the attempt, a gallant example 
being shown them by Lieut Green and his few 
artiUerymen, who made a sudden charge upon 
the foe and spiked the guns, but, not being 
supported, were obliged a second time to 
abandon them. Lieut. White, the Adjutant of 
H. M.'s 44th, received a severe wound through 
the face on this occasion. 



Brigadier Anquetil now sent to the front for 
reinforcements, which, however, it was found 
impracticable to furnish, from the crowded 
state of the road. The Affghan horse shortly 
after this charged into the very midst of the 
column of baggage, and carried off large quan- 
tities of plunder, creating the greatest confusion 
and dismay. Numbers fell from wounds, and 
still greater numbers from mere bodily weak- 
ness produced by cold, fasting, and fatigue. It 
was found necessary to spike and abandon two 
more horse-artillery guns, which the horses 
were found perfectly incapable of dragging any 
further through the deep snow. 

On the arrival of the advance at Bootkhak, 
the General, having been informed that the 
rear was in danger of being entirely cut off, 
ordered a halt, and sent back all the troops that 
could be spared, together with the two re- 
maining guns, to drive off the enemy, who had 
now assembled in great numbers in the rear, 
and were proceeding to crown some heights on 
the right commanding the road. This was, 
however, prevented by our troops under Briga- 
dier Shelton, who took possession of the nearer 
heights, and kept the enemy in check for up- 
wards of an hour. On this occasion, Lieut. 
Shaw, of the 54th N. I., was wounded severely 
in the thigh. Meanwhile Capt. Skinner had 
fallen in with a follower of Mahomed Akber 
Khan, from whom having learned that the chief 
was encamped near at hand, he accompanied 
the man to his mastei*'s presence. Mahomed 
Akber now informed Captain Skinner that he 
had been sent by the chiefs to escort us to Jel- 
lalabad.and declared that we had been attacked 
in consequence of having marched contrary to 
their wishes. He insisted on our halting at 
Bootkhak till the following morning, in which 
case he would provide food, forage, and fire- 
wood for the troops ; but he said that he should 
expect six hostages to insure our not marching 
beyond Tezeen, before tidings should be re- 
ceived of Gen. Sale's evacuation of Jellalabad, 
for which an order had been already despatched 
to that officer, in compliance with the stipula- 
tions of the treaty. 

These terms having been agreed to, the firing 
ceased for the present, and the force came to a 
halt on some high ground near the entrance of 
the Khoord-Cabul pass, having in two days ac- 
complished a distance of only ten miles from 
Cabul. 

Here, again, the confusion soon became inde- 
scribable. Suffice it to say that an immense 
multitude of from 14,000 to 16,000 men, with 
several hundred cavalry horses and baggage 
cattle, were closely jammed together in one 
monstrous, unmanageable, jumbling, mass. 
Night again closed over us, with its attendant 
train of 'horrors, — starvation, cold, exhaustion, 
death ; and of all deaths I can imagine none 
more agonizing than that, where a nipping frost 
tortures every sensitive limb, until the tena- 
cious spirit itself sinks under the exquisite ex- 
treme of human suffering. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



49 



January 8th. — At an early hour the treach- 
erous Affghans agaia commenced to molest us 
with their fire, and several hundreds having 
assembled in hostile array to the south of the 
camp, the troops were drawn up in expectation 
of an attack. Major Thain, putting himself at 
the head of the 44th foot, and exhorting the 
men to follow him, led them boldly on to the 
attack ; but the enemy did not think proper to 
await the shock of bayonets, and effected a 
hasty retreat. In this business it is satisfactory 
to be able to state that H. M.'s 44th foot behaved 
with a resolution and gallantry worthy of Bri- 
tish soldiers, and plainly proved that, under an 
able and judicious leader, they could yet re- 
deem their injured reputation. 

Capt. Skinner again went to communicate 
with Mahomed Akber Khan, who demanded 
that Major Pottinger and Capts. Lawrence and 
Mackenzie should immediately be made over 
to him, which was accordingly done, and hosti- 
lities again ceased ; the Sirdar promising to 
send forward some influential men to clear the 
path from the Giljyes, who occupied it, and were 
lying in wait for our approach. Once more the 
living mass of men and animals was in motion. 
At the entrance of the pass an attempt was 
made to separate the troops from the non-com- 
batants, which was but partially successful, and 
created considerable delay. The rapid effects of 
two nights' exposure to the frost in disorgan- 
izing the force can hardly be conceived. It had 
so nipped the hands and feet of even the 
strongest men, as to completely prostrate their 
powers and incapacitate them for service ; even 
the cavalry, who suffered less than the rest, 
were obliged to be lifted on their horses. In 
fact only a few hundred serviceable fighting 
men remaijied. 

The idea of threading the stupendous pass 
before us, in the face of an armed tribe of blood- 
thirsty barbarians, with such a dense irregular 
multitude, was frightful, and the spectacle then 
presented by that waving sea of animated 
beings, the majority of whom a few fleeting 
hours would transform into a line of lifeless car- 
casses to guide the future traveller on his way, 
can never be forgotten by those who witnessed 
it. We had so often been deceived by Affghan 
professions, that little or no confidence was 
placed in the present truce ; and we commenced 
our passage through the dreaded pass in no very 
sanguine temper of mind. This truly formi- 
dable defile is about five miles from end to end, 
and is shut in on either hand by a line of lofty 
hills, between whose precipitous sides the sun 
at this season could dart but a momentary ray. 
Down the centre dashed a mountain torrent, 
whose impetuous course the frost in vain at- 
tempted to arrest, though it succeeded in lining 
the edges with thick layers of ice, over which 
the snow lay consolidated in slippery masses, 
affording no very easy footing for our jaded 
animals. This stream we had to cross and 
recross about eight-and-twenty times. As we 
proceeded onwards, the defile gradually nar- 

7 



rowed, and the Giljyes were observed hastening 
to crown the heights in considerable force. A 
hot fire was opened on the advance, with whom 
were several ladies, who, seeing their only 
chance was to keep themselves in rapid motion, 
galloped forward at the head of all, running 
the gauntlet of the enemy's bullets, which 
whizzed in hundreds about their ears, until they 
were fairly out of the pass. Providentially the 
whole escaped, with the exception of Lady 
Sale, who received a slight wound in the arm. 
It ought, however, to be mentioned, that several 
of Mahomed Akber's chief adherents, who 
had preceded the advance, exerted themselves 
strenuously to keep down the fire ; but nothing 
could restrain the Giljyes, who seemed fully 
determined that nobody should interfere to dis- 
appoint them of their prey. Onward moved 
the crowd into the thickest of the fire, and 
fearful was the slaughter that ensued. An 
universal panic speedily prevailed, and thou- 
sands, seeking refuge in flight, hurried forward 
to the front, abandoning baggage, arms, ammu- 
nition, women, and children, regardless for 
he moment of every thing but their own 
lives. 

The rear-guard, consisting of H. M.'s 44th 
and 54th N. I., suffered severely ; and at last, 
finding that delay was only destruction, they 
followed the general example, and made the 
best of their way to the front. Another horse- 
artillery gun was abandoned, and the whole of 
its artillery-men slain. Capt. Anderson's eldest 
girl, and Capt. Boyd's youngest boy, fell into 
the hands of the Affghans. It is supposed that 
3000 souls perished m the pass, amongst whom 
were Capt. Paton, Assist. Qr.-Mast.-Gen. ; and 
Lieut. St. George, 37th N. I.— Major Griffiths, 
37th N. L, and Scott, H. M.'s 44th ; Capts. 
Bott, 5th cavalry, and Troup, Brigadier- Major 
Shah's force. Dr. Cardew and Lieut. Sturt, en- 
gineers, were wounded, the latter mortally. 
This fine young officer had nearly cleared the 
defile when he received his wound, and would 
have been left on the ground to be hacked to 
pieces by the Ghazees, who followed in the 
rear to complete the work of slaughter, but for 
the generous intrepidity of Lieut. Mein of 
H. M.'s 13th light infantry, who, on learning 
what had befallen him, went back to his suc- 
cour, and stood by him for several minutes, at 
the imminent risk of his own life, vainly en- 
treating aid from the passers by. He was at 
length joined by Serjt. Deane of the Sappers, 
with whose assistance he dragged his friend on 
a quilt through the remainder of the pass, when 
he succeeded in mounting him on a miserable 
pony, and conducted him in safety to camp, 
where the unfortunate officer lingered till the 
following morning, and was the only man of 
the whole force who received Christian burial. 
Lieut. Mein was himself at this very lime suf- 
fering from a dangerous wound in the head re- 
ceived in the previous October, and his heroic 
disregard of self, and fidelity to his friend in 
the hour of danger, are well deserving of a 



50 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



record in the annals of British valour and 
virtue. 

On the force reaching Khoord-Cabul, snow 
began to fall, and continued till morning. Only 
four small tents vi^ere saved, of vv'hich one be- 
longed to the General : two were devoted to 
the ladies and children, and one was given up 
to the sick ; but an immense number of poor 
wounded wretches, wandered about the camp 
destitute of shelter, and perished during the 
night. Groans of misery and distress assailed 
the ear from all quarters. We had ascended 
to a still colder climate than we had left behind, 
and were without tents, fuel, or food : the snow 
was the only bed for all, and of many, ere 
morning, it proved the winding-sheet. It is 
only marvellous that any should have survived 
that fearful night ! 

January 9tk. — Another morning dawned, 
awakening thousands to increased misery ; and 
many a wretched survivor cast looks of envy at 
his comrades, who lay stretched beside him in 
the quiet sleep of death. Daylight was the 
signal for a renewal of that confusion, which 
attended every movement of the force. The 
General had intended us to march at 10 a. m., 
but a large portion of the troops, with nearly 
all the camp followers, moved off without or- 
ders at 8 A. M., and had advanced about a mile 
from the camp, when they were recalled by the 
General, in consequence of a communication 
from Mahomed Akber Khan, who promised to 
use every endeavour to furnish us with sup- 
plies ; but strongly recommended us to halt 
until he could make some proper arrangements 
for escorting us down safely. There can be no 
doubt that the general feeling in camp was ad- 
verse to a halt, there being scarcely even a 
native soldier, who did not plainly perceive that 
our only chance of escape consisted in moving 
on as fast as possible. This additional delay, 
therefore, and prolongation of their sufferings 
in the snow, of which one more march would 
have carried them clear, made a very unfavour- 
able impression on the minds of the native 
soldiery, who now for the first time began very 
generally to entertain the idea of deserting; nor 
is it at all astonishing that these symptoms 
should have first developed themselves amongst 
the Shah's native cavalry, who were, for the 
most part, exceedingly young soldiers, and fore- 
saw full well the fatal result of all these useless 
and pernicious delays. The love of life is strong 
in every breast. 

These men had hitherto behaved remarkably 
well, notwithstanding the numerous efforts that 
had been made to detach them from their duty ; 
and, if their fealty at last gave place to the in- 
stinct of self-preservation, be it remembered in 
their favour, that it was not until the position of 
the force, of which they formed a part, had be- 
come altogether desperate beyond the reach of 
cure. 

Towards noon Capt. Skinner arrived in camp 
with a proposition from Mahomed Akber Khan 
that all the widowed ladies and married families. 



whose destitute situation in camp rendered them 
objects of universal pity and sympathy, should 
at once be made over to his protection, to pre- 
serve them from further hardships and dangers ; 
in this case he promised to escort them down 
safely, keeping them one day's march in rear of 
the army. The General, though not himself 
disposed to place much confidence in Mahomed 
Akber's friendly professions, was strongly re- 
commended by Capt. Skinner to trust him on 
the present occasion, as he felt assured that 
such a mark of confidence would be attended 
with happy results to the whole force. Anxious 
at all events to save the ladies and children 
from further suffering, the General gave his 
consent to the arrangement, and told Capt. 
Skinner to prepare all the married officers and 
ladies to depart immediately with a party of 
Afighan horse, who were in waiting to receive 
them. His intention also was that all the 
wounded officers in camp should have had the 
option of availing themselves of the same oppor- 
tunity to seek Mahomed Akber's protection; 
but the others were hurried off" by the Affghans 
before this had become generally known, and 
only two were in time to join them.* 

Up to this time scarcely one of the ladies 
had tasted a meal since leaving Cabui. Some 
had infants a few days old at the breast, and 
were unable to stand without assistance. Others 
were so far advanced in pregnancy, that, under 
ordinary circumstances, a walk across a draw- 
ing-room would have been an exertion ; yet 
these helpless women, with their young fami- 
lies, had already been obliged to rough it on the 
backs of camels, and on the tops of the baggage 
yaboos : those who had a horse to ride, or were 
capable of sitting on one, were considered for- 
tunate indeed. Most had been witHout shelter 
since quitting the cantonment — their servants 
had nearly all deserted or been killed — and, 
with the exception of Lady Macnaghten and 
Mrs. Trevor, they had lost all their baggage, 
having nothing in the world left but the clothes 
on their backs ; those, in the case of some 
of the invalids, consisted of night dresses in 
which they had started from Cabul in their lit- 
ters. Under such circumstances a few more 
hours would probably have seen some of them 
stiffening corses. The offer of Mahomed Akber 
was consequently their only chance of preser- 
vation. The husbands, better clothed and hardy, 
would have infinitely preferred taking their 
chance with the troops ; but where is the man 
who would prefer his own safety, when he 
thought he could by his presence assist and 
console those near and dear to him ] 

It is not therefore wonderful that, from per- 



* Capt. Troup, Brigadier-major Shah's force, and 
Lieut. Mein, H. M.'s 13th Light Inf., who went as 
Lady Sale's protector. 

Lieuts. Waller and Eyre were likewise suffering 
from severe and painful wounds received .in action 
at Cabul, which totally disabled them from active 
service. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



51 



sons so circumstanced, the General's proposal 
should have met with little opposition, although 
it was a matter of serious doubt whether the 
whole were not rushing into the very jaws of 
death, by placing themselves at the mercy of a 
man, who had so lately imbrued his hands in 
the blood of a British Envoy, whom he had 
lured to destruction by similar professions of 
peace and good-will. 

But whatever may have been the secret intent 
of Akber's heart, he was at this time our pro- 
fessed friend and ally, having undertaken to 
escort the whole force to Jellalabad in safety. 
Whatever suspicions, therefore, have been en- 
tertained of his hypocrisy, it was not in the 
character of an enemy that he gained posses- 
sion of the married families; on the contrary, 
he stood pledged for their safe escort to Jellala- 
bad, no less than for that of the army to which 
they belonged ; and by their unwarrantable 
detention as prisoners, no less than by the 
treacherous massacre of the force, he broke the 
universal law of nations, and was guilty of an 
unpardonable breach of faith. Shortly after 
the departure of the married families, it was 
discovered that the troopers of the Shah's irre- 
gular cavalry and of the mission escort were de- 
serting in great numbers, having been enticed 
away, as was supposed, by Mahomed Akber, to 
whom a message of remonstrance was in con- 
sequence sent. He assured the General, in 
reply, that not only would he refrain from en- 
ticing the men away, but that every future de- 
serter from our camp should be shot. \ 

Meanwhile a large body of Affghan horse had 
been observed in the vicinity of the camp, in 
company with the cavalry deserters; and, fears 
being entertained that it was their design to at- 
tack the camp, a general parade of the troops was 
ordered for the purpose of repelling- them. The 
44th foot at this time was found to muster 100 
files, and the native infantry regiments, on an 
average, about 60 files each. Of the Irregular 
Horse not above 100 effective troopers remained, 
and the 5th Light Cavalry, though more faithful 
to their salt, had been reduced by casualties to 
about 70 fighting men. On the arrival of Ma- 
homed Akber's answer to the General's message, 
the opportunity was taken of the troops being 
paraded, to explain to them its purport, and to 
warn them that every man, who might be dis- 
covered deserting, would be shot. At this very 
time, a Chuprassie of the mission, being caught 
in the act, was instantly shot, as an example to 
the rest, by order of the General, and the crime 
thus received a salutary check. Cript. Mackay, 
having been chosen to convey to Gen. Sale a 
fresh order for the evacuation of Jellalabad, was 
sent over in the evening to the Sirdar with that 
view. The promises of Mahomed Akber to 
provide food and fuel were unfulfilled, and an- 
other night of starvation and cold consigned 
more victims to a miserable death. 

January 10th. — At break of day all was again 
confusion, the troops and camp-followers crowd- 
ing promiscuously to the front, so soon as the 



orders for a march were given, every one dread- 
ing, above all things, to be left in the rear. 
The European soldiers were now almost the 
only efficient men left, the Hindoostanees 
having all suffered more or less from the ef- 
fects of frost in their hands and feet; few 
were able even to hold a musket, much less to 
pull a trigger ; in fact, the prolonged delay in 
the snow had paralysed the mental and bodily 
powers of the strongest men, rendering them 
incapable of any useful exertion. Hope seemed 
to have died in every breast. The wildness of 
terror was exhibited in every countenance. 

The advanced guard (consisting of H. M.'s 
44th foot, the sole remaining horse artillery gun, 
and about fifty troopers of the 5th cavalry) hav- 
ing managed, with much difficulty, to push their 
way to the front, proceeded a couple of miles 
without molestation, as far as a narrow gorge 
between the precipitous spurs of two hills, 
through which flowed a small stream. To- 
wards this point numbers of AfFghan foot had 
been observed hurrying, with the evident inten- 
tion of opposing the passage of the troops, and 
were now found to occupy the height on the 
right in considerable force. No sooner did the 
advance approach within shot, than the enemy, 
securely perched on their post of vantage, com- 
menced the attack, pouring a destructive fire 
upon the crowded column, as it slowly drew 
nigh to the fatal spot. Fresh numbers fell at 
every volley, and the gorge was soon choked 
with the dead and dying : the unfortunate Se- 
poys, seeing no means of escape, and driven to 
utter desperation, cast away their arms and ac- 
coutrements, which only clogged their move- 
ments without contributing to their defence, 
and along with the camp-followers fled for their 
lives. The Affg-hans now rushed down upon 
their helpless and unresisting victims sword in 
hand, and a general massacre took place. The 
last small remnant of the Native Infantry regi- 
ments were here scattered and destroyed; and 
the public treasure, with all the remaining bag- 
gage, fell into the hands of the enemy. Mean- 
while, the advance, after pushing through the 
Tungee with great loss, had reached Kubbur-i- 
Jubbar, about five miles ahead, without more 
opposition. Here they halted to enable the 
rear to join, but from the few stragglers who 
from time to time came up, the astounding 
truth was brought to light, that, of all who had 
that morning marched from Khoord-Cabul, they 
were almost the sole survivors, nearly the v^'hole 
of the main and rear columns having been cut 
ofFand destroyed. AboutSO horse artillery-men, 
with one twelve-poimder liowitzer, 70 files H. 
M.'s 44th, and 1.50 cavalry troopers, now com- 
posed the whole Cabul force; but, notwithstand- 
ing the slaughter and dispersion that had taken 
place, the camp-followers still formed a consi- 
derable body. 

The approach of a party of Afl^ghan horse in- 
duced the General to draw up his little force in 
line, preparatory to an expected attack ; bat on 
its being ascertained to be Mahomed Akber 



52 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



Khan and his followers, Captain Skinner was 
despatched to remonstrate with him on the 
attack on our troops, after a treaty had been 
entered into, and their safety guaranteed. 

In reply, he expressed his regret at what had 
occurred, but said that, notwithstanding all his 
endeavours, he found it impossible to restrain 
the Giljyes, who were in such a state of excite- 
ment as to be beyond the control even of their 
own chiefs. As a last resource, he recommended 
that the few remaining troops should lay down 
their arms, and place themselves entirely under 
his safeguard, in which case he could ensure 
their safe escort to Jellalabad; but that as the 
camp-followers still amounted to some thou- 
sands, and far outnumbered his own people, 
there was no alternative but to leave them to 
their fate. To these terms the General could 
not bring himself to consent, and the desperate 
march was resumed. Here Captain Mackay 
rejoined the troops, as the Sirdar considered it 
impossible for him at present to make his way 
safe to Jellalabad. 

About five more miles led down the steep de- 
scents of the Huft KotuI, into a narrow defile, 
or confined bed of a mountain stream. 

A ghastly sight here met the eye, the ground 
being strewn with the bodies of a number of 
camp-followers, with whom were several wound- 
ed officers and soldiers, who, having gone on 
ahead of the column, were attacked on reaching 
the foot of the hill, and massacred. The heights 
commanding the defile (which was about three 
miles long) were found crowned with the enemy. 
Mahomed Akber and his train had taken a short 
cut over the hills to Tezeen, and were followed 
by the few remaining troopers of the Irregular 
Cavalry. Dr. Magrath, seeing them take, as he 
thought, a wrong direction, hastened to recall 
them, and was taken prisoner by a Giljye chief. 
In their passage down the defile, a destructive 
fire was maintained on the troops from the 
heights on either side, and fresh numbers of 
dead and wounded lined the course of the 
stream. Brigadier Shelton commanded the rear 
with a few Europeans, and but for his perse- 
vering energy and unflinching fortitude in re- 
pelling the assailants, it is probable the whole 
would have been there sacrificed. 

The diminished remnant reached the encamp- 
ing ground in the Tezeen valley at about 4 p. m., 
having lost since starting from Cabul, inclusive 
of camp-followers, about 12,000 men; no less 
than 15 officers were filled and wounded in 
this day's disastrous march. 

Although it was now sufficiently plain that 
Mahomed Akber eitlier could not or would not 
act up to his friendly professions, the General 
endeavoured to renew his worse than useless 
negotiation with that chief, in the faint hope 
that something might still be done to better the 
situation of the troops; but Capt. Skinner, who 
was deputed on the occasion, returned with pre- 
cisely the same answer as before ; and as the 
General could not in honour accede to his propo- 
sal, all hope of aid from that quarter was at an end. 



It was now determined to make an effort, 
under cover of darkness, to reach JugduUuk, a 
distance of twenty-two miles, by an early hour 
on the following morning, the principal object 
being to get through the strong and dangerous 
pass of that place, before the enemy should have 
sufficient notice of their intention, to occupy it 
in any force. As there existed a short cut from 
Tezeen to JugduUuk over the hills, the success 
of the attempt was very doubtful ; but the lives 
of all depended on the issue ; and at 7 p. m. the 
little band renewed its forlorn and dismal march, 
word having been previously sent to Mahomed 
Akber that it was the General's intention to 
move only as far as Seh Baba, distant seven 
miles. On moving off, the last gun was aban- 
doned, and with it Dr. Cardew, who had been 
lashed to it in the hope of saving him. This 
gentleman had rendered himself conspicuous 
from the commencement of the siege for his 
zeal and gallantry, and had become a great 
favourite with the soldiery in consequence, by 
whom his hapless fate was sincerely lamented. 
Dr. DufF, the superintending surgeon of the 
force, experienced no better fortune, being left 
in a state of utter exhaustion on the road mid- 
way to Seh Baba. Little or no molestation was- 
experienced by the force until reaching Seh 
Baba, when a few shots being fired at the rear, 
there was an immediate rush of camp-followers 
to the front, and the main body of the 44th 
European soldiers, who had hitherto been well 
in advance, getting mixed up in the crowd, 
could not be extricated by withdrawing thera 
to the rear, owing to the narrowness of the 
road, which now traversed the hills to Burik-ab. 
Bodies of the neighbouring tribes were by this 
time on the alert, and fired at random from the 
heights, it being fortunately too dark for them 
to aim with precision; but the panic-stricken 
camp-followers now resembled a herd of startled 
deer, and fluctuated backwards and forwards, 
en masse, at every shot, blocking up the entire 
road, and fatally retarding the progress of the 
little body of soldiers who, under Brigadier 
Shelton, brought up the rear. 

At Burik-ab a heavy fire was encountered by 
the hindmost from some caves near the road- 
side, occasioning fresh disorder, which continued 
all the way to Kutter-Sung, where the advance 
arrived at dawn of day, and awaited the junction 
of the rear, which did not take place till 8 a. m. 

January Wih. — The distance from JugduUuk 
was still ten miles; the enemy already began to 
crown the surrounding heights, and it was now 
evident that the delay occasioned by the camp- 
followers had cut off the last chance of escape. 

From Kutter-Sung to JugduUuk it was one 
continued conflict; Brigadier Shelton, with his 
brave little band in the rear, holding over- 
whelming numbers in check, and literally per- 
forming wonders. But no efforts could avail to 
ward off" the withering fire of juzails, which 
from all sides assailed the crowded column, 
lining the road with bleeding carcasses. About 
3 p. M. the advance reached JugduUuk, and 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL, 



took up its position behind some ruined walls 
that crowned a height by the road-side. To 
show an imposing front, the officers extended 
themselves in line, and Capt. Grant, Asst,-Adjt.- 
Gen., at the same moment received a wound in 
the face. From this eminence they cheered 
their comrades under Brigadier Shelton in the 
rear, as they still struggled their way gallantly 
along every foot of ground, perseveringly fol- 
lowed up by their merciless enemy, until they 
arrived at their ground. But even here rest 
was denied them; for the Affghans, immediately 
occupying two hills which commanded the posi- 
tion, kept up a fire from which the walls of the 
enclosure afforded but a partial shelter. 

The exhausted troops and followers now be- 
gan to suffer greatly from thirst, which they 
were unable to satisfy. A tempting stream 
trickled near the foot of the hill, but to venture 
down to it was certain death. Some snow that 
covered the ground was eagerly devoured, but 
increased instead of alleviating, their sufferings. 
The raw flesh of three bullocks, which had for- 
tunately been saved, was served out to the sol- 
diers, and ravenously swallowed. At about half 
past three a message having been brought from 
Mahomed Akber to Capt. Skinner requesting 
his presence, that officer promptly obeyed the 
call, hoping thereby, even at the eleventh hour, 
to effect some arrangement for the preservation 
of those who survived. The harassed and worn- 
out troops, in the expectation of a temporary 
truce during his absence, threw themselves 
down to snatch a brief repose ; but even this 
much-needed luxury was denied them by their 
vigilant foes, who now, from their commanding 
position, poured into the crowded enclosure 
death-dealing volleys in rapid succession, caus- 
ing the utmost consternation among the terri- 
fied followers, who rushed wildly out in the 
vain hope of finding shelter from the fire. At 
this perilous juncture Capt. Bygrave, with about 
fifteen brave Europeans, sallied forth in the full 
determination to drive the enemy from the 
heights, or perish in the attempt. Unflinchingly 
they charged up the hill, the enemy retreating 
before them in the greatest trepidation. The 
respite, however, thus signally gained was of 
but short duration, for the heroic little band had 
no sooner returned, than the enemy reoccupied 
their posts of vantage, and resumed their fatal 
fire. Thus passed the time until 5, p. m., when 
Capt. Skinner returned from his interview with 
Mahomed Akber, bringing a message to the 
General from that chief, who requested his pre- 
sence at a conference, and demanded Brigadier 
Shelton and Capt. Johnson as hostages for the 
evacuation of Jellalabad. The General, seeing 
no alternative, made over temporary command 
to Brigadier Anquetil, and departed with the 
two above-named officers under the escort of 
Mahomed Shah Khan. The troops witnessed 
their departure with despair, having seen enough 
of Affghan treachery, to convince them that 
these repeated negotiations were mere hollow 
artifices, designed to engender confidence in 



their victims, preparatory to a fresh sacrifice of 
blood. The General and his companions were 
received by the Sirdar with every outward 
token of kindness, and no time was lost in sup- 
plying them with the bodily sustenance they so 
greatly needed ; they were likewise assured 
that immediate arrangements should be made 
for the supply of food to the famishing troops, 
and tor their safe escort to Jellalabad, after 
which they were shown into a small tent, to 
enjoy, for the first time since leaving Khoord- 
Cabul, a quiet and refreshing sleep. 

January 12th. — Numerous Giljye chiefs, 
with their attendant clansmen, flocked in from 
ihe neighbouring parts to pay their homage to 
Mahomed Akber; and about 9 a. m. a confer- 
ence was held, at which the three British offi- 
cers and all the influential chiefs were present. 
All the latter were loud and profuse in their ex- 
pressions of bitter hatred against the English, 
and for a long time the Sirdar's efforts to con- 
ciliate them seemed to be unsuccessful ; but the 
offer of two lacs of rupees appeared at last in 
some measure to appease them, of which sum 
Mahomed Akber promised to advance one lae 
himself, and to be security for the other. The 
day nevertheless wore on without any thing 
decisive having been agreed upon. The Gene- 
ral became impatient to rejoin bis force, and 
repeatedly urged the Sirdar to furnish him with 
the necessary escort, informing him at the same 
time that it was contrary to British notions of 
military honour, that a general should be sepa- 
rated from his troops in the hour of danger ; and 
that l?e would infinitely prefer death to such a 
disgrace. The Sirdar put him off with promises, 
and at 7 p. m., firing being heard in the direc- 
tion of the pass, it was ascertained that the 
troops, impatient of further delay, had actually 
moved off. From the time of the General's de- 
parture the situation of the troops had been in 
truth one of dark and cruel suspense, unenlight- 
ened by one solitary ray of hope. At an early- 
hour in the morning, before the enemy had yet 
made their appearance on the hills. Major Thain, 
accompanied by Capt. Skinner, rode oat a few 
hundred paces in the direction of Mahomed 
Akber's camp, in expectation of meeting a mes- 
senger from the Sirdar to the last named officer ; 
a Giljye soldier suddenly made his appearance, 
and, passing Major Thain, who was several 
yards in advance, went close up to Capt. Skin- 
ner, and shot him with a pistol through the face. 
Major Thain instantly returned to camp, and 
announced this act of treachery. The unfortu- 
nate officer was carried inside the enclosure, 
and lingered in great pain till 3 p. bi. In him 
the state lost an officer of whose varied merits 
as a soldier and a man it is difficult to speak too 
highly. A deep feeling of anguish and despair 
now pervaded the whole assemblage. The ex- 
tremes of hunger, thirst, and fatigue were suf- 
fered alike by all ; added to which, the Affghans 
again crowned the heights and recommenced 
hostilities, keeping up a galling fire the whole 
day with scarcely half an hour's intermission. 



54 



MILITARY OPERATIONS AT CABUL. 



Sally after sally was made by the Europeans, 
bravely led on by Major Thain, Capt. Bygrave, 
and Lieuts. Wade and Macartney; but again 
and again the enemy returned to worry and 
destroy. Night came, and all further delay in 
such a place being useless, the whole sallied 
forth, determined to pursue the route to Jellala- 
bad at all risks. 

The sick and wounded were necessarily aban- 
doned to their fate. Descending into the valley 
of Jugdulluk, they pursued their way along the 
bed of the stream for about a mile and a half, 
encountering a desultory fire from the Giljyes 
encamped in the vicinity, who were evidently 
not quite prepared to see them at such an hour, 
but were soon fully on the alert, some following 
up the rear, others pressing forward to occupy 
the pass. This formidable defile is about two 
miles long, exceedingly narrow, and closed in 
by lofty precipitous heights. The road has a 
considerable slope upwards, and, on nearing the 
summit, further progress was found to be ob- 
structed by two strong barriers formed of 
branches of the prickly holly-oak, stretching 
completely across the defile. Immense delay and 
confusion took place in the general struggle to 
force a passage through these unexpected ob- 
stacles, which gave ample time for the Giljyes 
to collect in force. 

A terrible fire was now poured in from all 
quarters, and a massacre even worse than that 
of Tunga Tareekee commenced, the AfFghans 
rushing in furiously upon the pent-up crowd of 
troops and followers, and committing wholesale 
slaughter. A miserably small remnanfc ma- 
naged to clear the barriers. Twelve officers,* 
amongst whom was Brigadier Anquetil, were 
killed. Upwards of forty| others succeeded in 
pushing through, about twelveij: of whom, being 
pretty well mounted, rode on ahead of the rest 
with the few remaining cavalry, intending to 
make the best of their way to Jellalabad. Small 
straggling parties of the Europeans marched on 
under different officers; the country became 
more open, and they suffered little molestation 
for several miles, most of the Giljyes being too 
busily engaged in the plundering of the dead to 
pursue the living. But much delay was occa- 
sioned by the anxiety of the men to bring on 
their wounded comrades, and the rear was 
much harassed by sudden onsets from parties 
stationed on the heights, under which the road 
occasionally wound. On reaching the Sourkab 
river, they found the enemy in possession of the 
bridge, and a hot fire was encountered in cross- 
ing the ford below it, by which Lieut. Cadet, 
H. M.'s 44th, was killed, together with several 
privates. 

January Villi. — The morning; dawned as they 
approached Gundamuk, revealing to the enemy, 
who had by this time increased considerably in 
their front and rear, the insignificance of their 
numerical strength. To avoid the vigorous as- 
saults that were now made by their confident 
foe, they were compelled to leave the road, and 



* Appendix. 



t Ibid. 



X Ibid. 



take up a defensive position on the height to the 
left of it, where they made a resolute stand, de- 
termined to sell their lives at the dearest pos- 
sible price. At this time they could only mus- 
ter about twenty muskets. 

Some AfTghan horsemen, approaching from 
the direction of Gundamuk, were now beckoned 
to, and an attempt was made by Lieut. Hay to 
enter upon some specific arrangement. Hostili- 
ties were for a few minutes suspended, and, at 
the invitation of a chief. Major Griffiths,' the 
senior officer, accompanied by Mr. Blewilt to 
act as interpreter, descended the hill to a con- 
ference. 

Several AflTghans now ascended the height, 
and assumed a friendly tone towards the little 
party there stationed ; but the calm was of short 
duration, for the soldiers, getting provoked at 
several attempts being made to snatch away 
their arms, resumed a hostile attitude, and drove 
the intruders fiercely down. The die was now 
cast, and their fate sealed ; for the enemy, taking 
up their post on an opposite hill, marked oft' 
man after man, officer after officer, with unerring 
aim. Parties of AflTghans rushed up at intervals 
to complete the work of extermination, but were 
as often driven back by the still dauntless hand- 
ful of invincibles. At length, nearly all being 
wounded more or less, a final onset of the enemy, 
sword in hand, terminated the unequal struggle, 
and completed the dismal tragedy. Major Grif- 
fiths and Mr. Blewitt had been previously led 
off to a neighbouring fort, and were thus saved. 
Of those whom they left behind, Captain Souter 
alone, with three or four privates, was spared, 
and carried off captive, having received a severe 
wound in the shoulder; he had tied round his 
waist before leaving Jugdulluk the colours of 
his regiment, which were thus miraculously 
preserved. 

It only remains to relate the fate of those few 
officers and men, who rode on ahead of the rest 
after passing the barriers. Six of the twelve 
officers, Capts. Bellew, Collier, Hopkins, Lieut. 
Bird, Drs. Harpur, and Brydon, reached Futte- 
habad in safety, the other six having dropped 
gradually off by the way and been destroyed. 
Deceived by the friendly professions of some 
peasants near the above-named town, who 
brought them bread to eat, they unwisely de- 
layed a few moments to satisfy the cravings of 
hunger; the inhabitants meanwhile armed 
themselves, and, suddenly sallying forth, cut 
down Capt. Bellew and Lieut. Bird; Capts. 
Collier and Hopkins, and Drs. Harpur and 
Brydon, rode off, and were pursued ; the three 
former were overtaken and slain within four 
miles of Jellalabad; Dr. Brydon by a miracle 
escaped, and was the only officer of the whole 
Cabul force, who reached that garrison in safety. 
Such was the memorable retreat of the British 
army from Cabul, which, viewed in all its cir- 
cumstances, — in the military conduct which 
preceded and brought -about such a consumma- 
tion, the treachery, disaster, and suffering which 
accompanied it, — is, perhaps, without a parallel 
in history. 



ROUGH NOTES 



DURING 



IMPEISONMENT IN AP P GH AN I S T AN. 



EOUGH NOTES 



DURING 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN, 

1843. 



EDITOR'S NOTICE. 

The following " rough notes" will be found a 
very interesting sequel to the foregoing narra- 
tive. They are strictly what they profess to 
be — penned in haste, lo bo despatched when 
opportunity should serve, as perhaps the last 
proof of his existence, which the writer might 
give his friends for many a day. How narrowly 
the Cabul prisoners did at last escape an inde- 
finitely prolonged captivity, is known to all. 
And now that a gracious Providence has so re- 
stored them, it is hoped that the Author will, at 
a future opportunity, be enabled to add more 
particulars of an every-day life with such a 
party in an Aifghan prison, and to fill up the 
gap which necessarily now remains between 
the 29th of June, when these Notes break off, 
and the 21st of September, on which happy day 
they again breathed the air of freedom. 



January 9th. — In my notes on the retreat of 
the British force from Cabul, I have already 
mentioned the departure, from Gen. Elphin- 
stone's camp at Khoord-Cabul, of the ladies, 
with their husbands and other ofBoers, to the 
proffered protection of Mahomed Akber Khan ; 
but it may be expedient briefly to remind" the 
reader of the mode in which this event was 
brought about. I have been assured by Major 
Pottinger that, on the night of the 8th, the 
Sirdar, having spontaneously entered on the 
subject, expressed to that officer his serious 
apprehensions of the peril to which the ladies 
and children would be exposed by remaining in 
camp (it being impossible to restrain the Giljyes 
from a continuance of hostilities), and that, 
with a view to prevent further misery and suf- 
fering to the individuals in question, he should 

8 



lose no time in proposing to the General that all 
the ladies and married families might be made 
over to his care for safe escort to Jellalabad, 
keeping one march in rear of the army. Major 
Pottinger having declared his entire approval of 
the Sirdar's humane intentions, advantage was 
taken of Capt. Skinner's return to camp on the 
following morning, to make known the proposal 
to Gen. Elphinstone ; and a small party of 
Affghan horse was sent with him, to escort all 
such as might be able to avail themselves of the 
offer. The General, hoping that so signal a 
mark of confidence in Mahomed Akber's good 
faith, might be attended with beneficial results 
to the army, and anxious at all events to save 
the ladies from a prolongation of the hardships 
they had already endured, readily consented to 
the arrangement ; and, under the peculiar cir- 
cumstances of the case, deemed it incumbent 
on him to send their husbands also, more espe- 
cially as some were helpless from severe wounds. 
The whole* were accordingly ordered to depart 
immediately with the Affghan escort, by whom 
we v.'ere impatiently hurried off, before the 
majority had been made clearly to comprehend 
the reason of their being so suddenly separated 
from their companions in trouble. At that time 
so little confidence was placed by any of us in 

* Lady Macnaghten, 
Lady Sale,* 

Mrs. Sturt, her daughter, 
Capt. Boyd, wife, and child, 
Capt. Anderson, ditto, ditto, 
Lieut. Waller,* ditto, ditto, 
Lieut. Eyre,* ditto, ditto, 
Mr. Ryley, ditto, ditto, 
Mrs. Trevor and seven children, 
Mrs. Mainwaring and child, 
Capt. Troup,* 
Lieut. Mein,* 
Serjt. Wade and family. 

N.B. Those marked thus * were wounded. 



58 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



Mahomed Akber's plausible professions, that it 
seemed as though we were but too probably 
rushing from a state of comparative safety into 
the very jaws of destruction ; but, placing our 
dependence on a watchful Providence, we bade 
a hasty, and as it proved to many, an eternal, 
farewell to our friends, and mournfully followed 
our conductors to the place allotted for our re- 
ception, about two miles distant from camp. 
The road lay through ravines and wilds of the 
most savage description, one universal garb of 
snow clothing the dreary and uninviting scene. 
On the way we passed several hundred Giljye 
horse drawn up in line, as if in readiness for an 
attack on the camp. Half an hour's ride brought 
us to a small fort perched on the edge of a pre- 
cipitous bank, which we ascended by a slanting 
slippery path, and entered the gate with a mis- 
trust by no means diminished by the ferocious 
looks of the garrison, amidst a circle of whom 
some of us were kept standing for several 
minutes, during which our sensations were far 
from agreeable. At last, however, we were 
shown into a small inner court, where, to our 
great relief, we found our three countrymen. 
Major' Pottinger, and Capls. Mackenzie and 
Lawrence, who had been made over as hos- 
tages at Bootkhak, and in the midst of whom 
sat, to the inexpressible joy of his parents, the 
youngest boy of Capt. and Mrs. Boyd, who, 
having been picked up in the Khoord-Cabul pass 
on the previous day by one of Mahomed Akber's 
followers, had been committed by that chief to 
Major Pottinger's protection. The accommo- 
dation provided for us, though the best the place 
afforded, was of the most humble description, 
consisting of three small dark hovels, into 
which ladies and gentlemen were promiscuously 
crowded together, the bachelors being, however, 
separate from the married families. But even 
this state of things was heaven itself compared 
with the cold and misery we had been suffering 
in camp on the bare snow, and we felt most 
thankful for the change. The court-yard was 
all day crowded with the friends and relations 
of Mahomed Akber, whose bearing towards us 
was exceedingly kind and courteous; but their 
presence obliged the ladies to remain closely 
immured in their dark cells. In the course of 
the afternoon the chief himself made his ap- 
pearance, and, having requested an interview 
with Lady Macnaghten, expressed to that lady 
his sorrow at having been instrumental to her 
present misfortunes, and his desire to contribute 
to her comfort as long as she remained his guest. 
But an Affghan nobleman's ideas of comfort fall 
very far short of an English peasant's; and we 
soon learned to consider spoons, forks, and other 
table gear as effeminate luxuries, and plunged 
our fingers unhesitatingly into the depths of a 
greasy pilao, for which several of us scrambled 
out of one common dish. The warmth of a 
wood* fire, though essential to protect us from 

* The AfFghans are in many parts of the country 
almost entirely dependent for fuel on a species of 



the severe extremes of cold, could only be en- 
joyed at the expense of being blinded and half- 
stifled by the smoke ; the bare ground was our 
only bed, and postheens (or sheepskin cloaks) 
our only covering ; but these and various other 
inconveniences were indeed of small moment, 
when weighed in the balance against the com- 
bination of horrors we had escaped, and which 
still encompassed our unhappy countrymen and 
fellow-soldiers in camp. 

January l\th. — At about 11 a. m. we started, 
under an escort of about 50 horse, for Tezeen, 
having been previously cautioned to use our 
swordaand pistols in case of need, as an attack 
might be expected from the blood-thirsty Gha- 
zees who thronged the road. The retreating 
army had marched over the same ground on the 
previous day, and terrible was the spectacle 
presented to our eyes along the whole line of 
road: the snow was absolutely dyed with streaks 
and patches of blood for whole miles, and at 
every step we encountered the mangled bodies 
of British and Hindoostanee soldiers, and help- 
less camp-followers, lying side by side, victims 
of one treacherous undistinguishing fate, the 
red stream of life still trickling from many a 
gaping wound inflicted by the merciless Affghan 
knife. Here and there small groups of misera- 
ble, starving, and frost-bitten wretches, among 
whom were many Women and children, were 
still permitted to cling to life, perhaps only be- 
cause death would in their case have been a 
mercy. The bodies of Major Scott and Ewart, 
and of Dr. Bryce, were recognised. Nume- 
rous parties of truculent Ghazees, the chief 
perpetrators of these horrors, passed us laden 
with booty, their naked swords still reeking 
with the blood of their victims. They uttered 
deep curses and sanguinary threats at our party, 
and seemed disappointed that so many of the 
hated Feringhees should have been suffered to 
survive. We reached Tezeen, a distance of 
sixteen miles, at close of day, where the fort of 
Mahomed Khan received us for the night. Here 
we found Lieut. Melville of the 54th N. I., who 
had delivered himself up to Mahomed Akber on 
the previous day, having received some slight 
sword cuts in defending the colours of his regi- 
ment. We were also sorry to see no less than 
400 of our irregular Hindoostanee horse en- 
camped outside the fort, having deserted to 
the enemy on the 9fh and 10th. They be- 
longed chiefly to Anderson's horse and the 
body-guard. 

January 12th. — At 10 a.m. we again pro- 
ceeded on our journey down the Tezeen valley 
preceded by the cavalry deserters. At Sell 
Baba, striking off from the high road, which 
here crosses some hills to the right, we kept 
bur course along the stream,* to the fort of 

Artemisia, or southernwood, which grows every 
where in the greatest profusion, and scents the 
whole atmosphere with its powerful fragrance. 

* I have not particularised the features of such 
portions of the high road as we traversed, because 
they were already well known. 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



59 



Surroobee, a distance of sixteen miles. Between 
Tezeen and Seh Baba we encountered the same 
horrifying sights as yesterday; we passed the 
last abandoned horse-artillery gun, the carriage 
of which had been set on fire by the Ghazees, 
and was still burning; the corpse of poor 
Cardew lay stretched beside it, with several of 
the artillery-men. A little further on we 
passed the body of Dr. Duff, the superintending 
surgeon to the force, whose left hand had suf- 
fered previous amputation with a^ pen-knife by 
Dr. Harcourt! Numbers of worn-out and fa- 
mished camp-followers were lying under cover 
of the rocks, within whose crevices they vainly 
sought a shelter from the cold. By many of 
these poor wretches we were recognised, and 
vainly invoked for the food and raiment we 
were unable to supply. The fate of these un- 
fortunates was a sad subject of reflection to us, 
— death in its most horrid and protracted form 
stared them in the face ; and the agonies of 
despair were depicted in every countenance. 
The fort of Surroobee belongs to Abdoolah 
Khacu Giljye. Near Seh Baba we were over- 
taken by Dr. Macgrath of the 37th N. I., who 
had been taken prisoner on the 10th, and was 
now sent to join our party ; we were thus un- 
expectedly furnished with medical assistance, 
of which the sick and wounded had sorely felt 
the want. 

January \Wi. — Resuming our march at 10 
A. M., we crossed the hills in a southeast direc- 
tion towards JugduUuk. The road in many 
places was very steep, and for several miles 
traversed a high table-land, presenting no signs 
of cultivation or human propinquity. Within 
about five miles of Jugdulluk, we again entered 
the high road, along which our army had re- 
cently passed ; and the first sight that presented 
itself was the body of a fine European soldier : 
— Again our path was strewed with the man- 
gled victims of war. — We reached Jugdulluk 
late in the evening ; and, passing by the ruined 
inclosure within which the remnant of the force 
had so hopelessly sought shelter, we beheld a 
spectacle more terrible than any we had pre- 
viously witnessed, the whole interior space 
being one crowded mass of bloody corpses. The 
carnage here must have been frightful. The 
body of Capt. Skinner was recognised, and an 
Affghan was persuaded by Capt. Lawrence to 
inter it during the night, Mahomed Akber's 
consent having been previously procured. 
About two hundred yards below this fatal spot 
we found three ragged tents pitched for our 
reception, Mahomed Akber Khan being en- 
camped hard by ; and we now learned for the 
first time that Gen. Elphinstone, Brigadier 
Shelton, and Capt. Johnson, were hostages in 
his hands, the rest of the force having been 
annihilated. Mr. Fallon, an assistant in one of 
the public offices, had also been taken prisoner 
at the same time. 

January \^th. — Shortly after sunrise we pur- 
sued our journey, accompanied by Akber Khan, 
with his hostages, or rather ^nsoners, and about 



600 horse, of whom the Hindoostanee deserters 
formed a part. The road took a northerly direc- 
tion up a gorge in the hills, and thence pro- 
ceeded for five or six miles up a narrow defile, 
through which runs a small stream whose 
upper surface was covered with ice. Through- 
out these regions of snow the cold was intense, 
and we passed several springs whose waters, 
arrested by the frost, hung suspended in long 
glittering icicles from the rocks, exhibiting a 
spectacle whose brilliancy would, under less 
depressing circumstances, have called forth ex- 
clamations of wonder and admiration, which 
we had not now the heart to utter. After 
clearing this defile, our course became some- 
what easterly, through a more open country, and 
over a tolerably good road, for four or five miles, 
when we entered another short defile leading 
over a rocky ghat, after surmounting which 
the road again improved, until we reached the 
steep and difficult pass of Udruk-budruck. The 
ascent was about 1000 feet, up a narrow wind- 
ing path, which, from the sharp and jagged 
nature of the rocks, scarcely afforded a practi- 
cable footing for our horses and camels. From 
the summit we had an extensive view of the. 
country to the north, bounded by lofty snow- 
clad hills, the intervening space being broken 
up into innumerable ravines, whose barren 
surface was unrelieved by a single tree, the 
only signs of vegetable life being confined to 
the banks of the Cabul river, which partially 
fertilized the narrow valley immediately below 
us. The descent into this plain, down the 
rugged mountain side, was infinitely more tedi- 
ous, and attended with greater peril, than the 
previous ascent, our jaded beasts threatening to 
cast their riders with violence on the rocks at 
every step. It was dark ere we reached the 
fort of Kutz, after a fatiguing journey of twenty- 
four miles, which had occupied no less than ten 
hours. This place belongs to Mahomed Ali 
Khan, Giljye, and is situated near the right 
bank of the Punjsheer river. x\lthough the 
clouds threatened rain, we were refused admit- 
tance within the walls, and were consequently 
obliged to repose in the open air, exposed the 
whole night to a high cutting wind. Fortunately 
we had now descended into a milder climate, or 
the poor ladies and children must have suffered 
severely. At midnight we were roused up by 
the arrival of our daily meals, consisting of half- 
baked cakes of unleavened bread, and untempt- 
ing lumps of tough mutton; but our servants 
had by this time prepared us some hot tea, 
which was far more satisfactory to wearied tra- 
vellers than the solid fare of Affghan cooks. 

January 15th. — At an early hour we were 
again on the move, and a few hundred yards 
brought us to the Cabul river, which at the ford 
was divided into two branches, the last ex- 
tremely rapid, and the water reaching up to 
our saddle-girths; many of the ladies, being 
mounted on ponies, were obliged to dismount, 
and ride astride on the chargers of their Affghan 
acquaintance, to avoid getting wet. Nothing 



60 



ROUGH NOTES DUUlNdJ 



could exceed the politeness and attention of 
Mahomed Akber on this occasion, who mani- 
fested the greatest anxiety until all had crossed 
over in safety. Several men and ponies were 
swept down by the violence of the current and 
drowned; a whole host of camp dogs, whose 
masters had been slain, and who had attached 
themselves to us, remaining on the other side, 
to our great relief. — Our course was now north- 
easterly, over a barren undulating country, for 
about ten miles, until we reached the fertile 
valley of Lughmanee, at the border of which 
we crossed a wide and rapid stream ; the whole 
plain beyond was thickly studded with small 
high-walled forts and villages, by whose inha- 
bitants we were greeted, en passant, in no 
measured terms of abuse, in which exercise of 
speech the fair sex, I am sorry to say, bore a 
conspicuous part, pronouncing the English la- 
dies not only immoral in character, but down- 
right " scarecrows" in appearance, and the 
gentlemen, " dogs," " base born," " infidels," 
"devils," with many other unpronounceable 
titles equally complimentary, the whole being 
wound up with an assurance of certain death to 
our whole party ere many hours should elapse. 
We also passed within a mile of a plain white 
building on our left, which was pointed out as 
the tomb of Lamech the father of Noah, and a 
favourite place of pilgrimage with the Affghans. 
At about 3 p. M. we reached the walled town of 
Turghurree, within which we found lodging, 
after a march of about sixteen miles. We found 
the Affghan gentry most agreeable travelling 
companions, possessing a ready fund of easy con- 
versation and pleasantry, with a certain rough 
polish and artless independence of manner, 
which, compared with the studied servility and 
smooth-tongued address of the Hindoostanee 
nobles, seldom fails to impress our countrymen 
in their favour. 

January 16th. — We were well pleased to 
find that a day's halt had been determined 
upon, which was no less acceptable for the 
needful rest it secured for iman and beast, than 
for the opportunity it afforded us of performing 
our Sabbath devotions, which, under present cir- 
cumstances, could not fail to be a source of 
more than ordinary comfort. Some disturbance 
was occasioned during the day by a party of 
Giljyes threatening to attack the town, and a 
few shots were exchanged from both sides, by 
which two or three men were said to have been 
killed. The affray was believed to have ori- 
ginated in discontent at the division of the spoil 
of our army. This place has a small bazar, and 
many poor wanderers from our camp were per- 
mitted to take refuge within the walls, where a 
meal was dealt out to them daily by some cha- 
ritable Hindoo residents. 

January 17th. — The Sirdar's intention had 
been to keep us at Turghurree for several days; 
but, owing to the hostile spirit evinced towards 
us by the populace, he was obliged to hurry us 
away. At 11 a. m. we accordingly resumed 
our journey, under a guard of about 200 Juzail- 
chees, whom it had been necessary to collect 



for our protection. Crowds of Affghans lined 
the walls to witness oaf departure, and some of 
our small remains of baggage fell a prey to the 
insatiable love of plunder, for which the Giljyea 
are notorious. Many of our Hindoostanee ser- 
vants, who had hitherto followed our fortunes, 
now left us, under the idea that the Sirdar had 
decided upon our destruction. We pursued a 
northeasterly course along the valley, passing 
numerous forts, and at 2 a. m. reached Buddeea- 
bad, a distance of eight miles, where one of the 
chief strongholds of Mahomed Shah Khan, 
Giljye, had been vacated for our reception. 
The accommodation provided for us here was 
better than we had hitherto experienced. The 
fort was of a square form, each face about 80 
yards long, with walls 25 feet high, and a flank- 
ing tower at each corner. It was further de- 
fended by a faussebray and deep ditch all round, 
the front gate being on the southwest face, and 
the postern on (he northeast, each defended by 
a tower or bastion. The Zuna-Khaneh, or pri- 
vate dwelling, occupied two sides of a large 
square space in the centre, shut in by a high 
wall, each wing containing three apartments 
raised about eight feet from the ground, and the 
outer side of the principal room, consisting en- 
tirely of a wooden framework, divided into five 
compartments, with ornamented panels in each, 
made to slide up and down at pleasure. All the 
better sort of houses in the country have the 
chief rooms constructed in this manner, which 
is better adapted for the summer than the winter 
season, as it admits of a free circulation of air, 
but is an insufficient barrier against the cold. 
There was no supply of water inside the fort, 
but a small river ran past, at the distance of 
half a mile on the southeast side, and a little 
stream or canal about 100 yards outside the 
walls. It is singular that few Affghan forts 
have wells, notwithstanding the general abun- 
dance of water near the surface in all the culti- 
vated valleys; and it would, generally speak- 
ing, be very easy to cut off the external supply 
of that necessary element, thus forcing the gar- 
rison to surrender without expending a shot. 
This fort is quite new, having been built since 
our occupation of the country. The owner, 
Mahomed Shah Khan, is father-in-law of Ma- 
homed Akber Khan, and is one of the few chiefs 
who never deigned to acknowledge Shah Shooja. 
Insatiable avarice and ambition are his ruling 
passions, and, as our conquest put an end to his 
promisingschemesof aggrandizement, his hatred 
towards us is intense. Unhappily he exercised 
great influence over his son-in-law, of whose 
cause in fact he was the chief supporter; and 
he was generally admitted to have been the 
principal instigator to the treacherous seizure of 
our envoy, for whose murder, however, which 
was committed in the heat and impulse of the 
moment, he is not answerable. Mahomed Akber 
and his cousin Sultan Mahomed Khan, familiarly 
called Sultan Jan, accompanied us to Buddeea- 
bab, where they endeavoured to arrange matters 
for our comfort to the utmost of their power. 
Sultan Jan is eminently handsome, proportion- 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



61 



ately vain, and much given to boasting. Both 
he and the Sirdar were equally kind and cour- 
teous; but tlie latter is in manner a more per- 
fect gentleman, and never, like his cousin, 
indulges in comparisons to the disadvantage of 
the English, of whom he invariably speaks with 
candour and respect. 

The Sirdar has been completely baulked in 
his plans by the refusal of Gen, Sale to vacate 
Jellalabad, on which he had by no means calcu- 
lated; even now he could not be persuaded that 
an order from Major Pottinger would not be 
obeyed by Captain Macgregor, the political 
authority there, although the Major constantly 
assured him that with us a prisoner, however 
exalted his rank, not being considered a free 
agent, has no power or control over any public 
officers of government, however much his infe- 
riors in rank and station. I have no doubt his 
hope was that General Sale, yieldmg to the ap- 
parent necessities of the case, would have va- 
cated the town and forthwith retreated to 
Peshawur, in which case he made pretty sure 
of the assistance of the Khy berries, in com- 
pleting the annihilation of the British force. 

January I8th. — Mahomed Akber and Sultan 
Jan departed, with the professed object of at- 
tempting the reduction of Jellalabad, and appa- 
rently very confident of success. As we re- 
mained immured in the fort of Buddeeabab until 
the 11th of April, I can scarcely expect that a 
minute detail of daily occurrences during that 
period would interest the reader. It would be 
equally idle to note down the various reports 
that reached us from time to time of passing 
events. The AfFghans excel all the world in the 
ready fabrication of falsehoods, and those about 
us were interested in keeping us in the dark as 
much as possible. Nevertheless the truth 
could not always be concealed, and we managed, 
notwithstanding all their vigilance, to obtain 
pretty accurate intelligence of what was passing 
in the world without, though of course it was 
difficult entirely to separate the wheat from the 
chaff. On our first arrival we sufi^ered some 
inconvenience from the want of clean linen, 
having in our transit from fort to fort been 
much pestered by vermin, of which, after they 
had once established a footing, it was by no 
means an easy matter to rid ourselves. The 
first discovery of a real living 1-o-u-s-c was a 
severe shock to our fine sense of delicacy ; but 
custom reconciles folk to any thing, and even the 
ladies eventually mustered up resolution to look 
one of these intruders in the face without a 
scream. The management of our household 
matters, as well as the duty of general surveil- 
lance, was committed to a Mehmandar, who ge- 
nerally took advantage of his temporary autho- 
rity to feather his own nest, by defrauding us in 
respect to the quality and quantity of our need- 
ful supplies. Moossa Khan was the first agent 
of this kind with whom we had to deal ; and he 
was so little restrained by scruples, as to pass 
for a most consummate rogue even among 
Aifghans. 



For mere ordinary civility the unfortunate 
widow of the murdered Envoy found it her in- 
terest to repay iiim with costly presents of Cash- 
mere shawls, &c., and was twice induced to 
pay twenty rupees for the recovery of a fiivour- 
ite cat, which Moossa Khan had actually stolen 
from her himselti for the sake of the expected 
reward. This man was, nevertheless, much 
trusted by Mahomed Akber, who valued him no 
less for his capacity for intrigue, than for his 
unscrupulous zeal in the performance of the 
meanest or wickedest purposes. Such a coad- 
jutor could not long be spared from his "master's 
side in attendance upon us, and he was accord- 
ingly relieved on the 20th January, for the pur- 
pose of carrying on intrigues against the British 
with the leading chieftains of the Punjab. His 
successor was an old acquaintance of Capt. 
Troup, named Meerza Bawndeen Khan, who in 
peaceful times styled himself Syud, but now for 
a time sunk his religious distinction in the more 
warlike title of Khan. This man had, at the 
outbreak of the rebellion, been,imprisoned on 
suspicion of favouring the English, but was re- 
leased immediately on the arrival of Mahomed 
Akber, whom he had befriended during that 
chief's confinement at Bokhara, and to whose 
fortune he now attached himself^ His manners 
were exceedingly boorish, and he took little 
pains to render himself agreeable, though, from 
his previous conduct, there was reason to believe 
that, under all his roughness of exterior, there 
lurked a secret preference for our cause. In most 
respects we certainly benefited by the change. 
On the 21st v/e had rain, and on the 22d 
snow fell on the neighbouring hills. 

On the 23d there was snow in the fort itself, 
a proof of the unusual severity of the winter, 
being" quite a rare occurrence in this valley. 

We had hitherto received our food at the 
hands of Aftghan cooks, who little consulted the 
delicacy of the European palate. Our daily 
diet consisted of boiled rice, mutton boiled to 
rags, and thick cakes of unleavened dough ; 
which, for ladies and children, was not the most 
enviable fare, whilst the irregular hours at 
which it was served up interfered greatly with 
our own comforts. It was now arranged, how- 
ever, greatly to the satisfaction of all concerned, 
that our meals should be prepared by our own 
Hindoostanee servants, the Aflghans furnishing 
materials. 

We had a visit from the Sirdar and Sultan- 
Jan on the 23d, the chief having his head-quar- 
ters at present at Trighurree, where he was 
making preparation for the siege of Jellalabad. 
Major Pottinger, at his request, wrote a letter to 
Capt. Macgregor, explaining all that had oc- 
curred since the army left Cabul. 

On the 24th, the Sirdar, having heard that 
we were much in want of money, sent 1000 
rupees to be distributed among us. 

On the 27th, he paid us another visit, his prin- 
cipal object being to induce Major Pottinger to 
make some alterations in the letter for Capt. 
Macgregor. 



62 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



January '2Qth. — This day was rendered a 
joyous and eventful one to us, by the arrival 
from Jellalabad of a budget of letters and news- 
papers from our brother officers there garrisoned, 
who had likewise generously subscribed a quan- 
tity of clothes and other comforts from their little 
store for our use. It was truly gratifying to 
receive these proofs of sympathy from our coun- 
trymen, and to have a door of communication 
opened once more with the civilized world. 
Some of our friends managed to inform us of all 
that was going on, by dotting off letters of the 
alphabetf in the newspapers, which is an easy 
mode of carrying on secret correspondence, and 
not likely to be detected by an Asiatic. In this 
manner we became acquainted with Brigadier 
Wild's failure in the Khyber pass, and with 
General Pollock's march from India: we also 
heard now for the first time that Dr. Brydon 
had reached Jellalabad alive, being the only 
officer who escaped out of the whole army 
which had left Cabul. Captains Collyer and 
Hopkins, witk Dr. Harper, were found dead 
within four miles of the town of Jellalabad. It 
is said that, one of the ill-fated trio having been 
wounded, the remaining two went back to his 
assistance; but for which act of charity they 
would probably have been saved. It is singular 
that Dr. Brydon was mounted on a miserable 
pony, and seemed, humanly speaking, one of 
the most unlikely persons of the whole force to 
effect so wonderful an escape. Capt. Bellew, 
Lieut. Bird, and two or three other officers, with 
several European soldiers, were killed near 
Futtehabad, having imprudently delayed at a 
village to satisfy the cravings of hunger, and 
thus given the inhabitants time to arm them- 
selves and overpower them. 

February Ibth. — The tedium of a prison life 
was again relieved to-day by the arrival of 
Abdool Guffoor Khan and Dost Mahomed Khan 
from the Sirdar, bringing with them Major 
Griffiths of 37th N. I. and Mr. Blewitt, a clerk 
of the pay office, both of whom, with the Sergt.- 
Major of the 37th N. I., were taken prisoners at 
Gundamuk, after witnessing the massacre of 
almost all the officers and men who reached 
that place. Capt. Souter, H. M. 44th regiment, 
was led off at the same time by another chief, 
having preserved the colours of his regiment by 
tying them round his waist. The Sergt.-Major 
was so fortunate as to be set at liberty on the 
payment of certain rupees as a ransom, and a 
similar arrangement was on the point of being 
made for the release of Major Griffiths and Mr. 
Blewitt, when they were demanded by Ma- 
homed Akber, and unwillingly delivered up by 
their captor. Major Griffiths had received a 
severe wound in the arm from a bullet. We 
were also delighted to learn that Capt. Bygrave, 
paymaster to the force, was safe, and would 
soon join us. 

By command of Mahomed Akber we were 
this day ordered to deliver up our arms, which 
we had hitherto been permitted to retain. The 
cause of this was declared to be the discovery 



of a clandestine correspondence, carried on be- 
tween Major Pottinger and Capt. Macgregor, 
which had so much displeased the Sirdar, that 
he sent a solemn warning to the Major to de- 
sist from such practices in future, significantly 
reminding him of the tragical fate of Sir Wil- 
liam Macnaghten. Major Pottinger boldly ac- 
knowledged the fact of his having written pri- 
vately to Jellalabad, and justified it on the plea 
that he had given no promise to the Sirdar to re- 
frain from so doing. By Abdool Guffoor Khan we 
again enjoyed the gratification of receiving 
letters from our friends at Jellalabad. This 
chief was supposed to be friendly to our interests, 
having materially assisted Gen. Sale with sup- 
plies for his force. He was evidently much 
suspected by the Affghans about us, who main- 
tained a strict watch over every word he uttered 
during his visit. 

February 16f/i. — Captain Souter joined ua to- 
day, having been made over to the Sirdar by the 
chief who captured him. 

February IQtli. — On the 6th, we had a heavy 
fall of rain, since which the weather had become 
exceedingly close. This morning it was re- 
marked that an unusual degree of heat and 
stillness pervaded the air. 

Whether these were premonitory symptoms 
of what v/as shortly to happen it is impossible 
to determine; but at 11 a. m. we were sud- 
denly alarmed by a violent rocking of the earth, 
which momentarily increased to such a degree 
that we could with difficulty maintain our 
balance. Large masses of the lofty walls that 
encompassed us fell in on all sides with a thun- 
dering crash ; a loud subterraneous rumbling 
was heard, as of a boiling sea of liquid lava, 
and wave after wave seemed to lift up the 
ground on which we stood, causing every build- 
ing to rock to and fro like a floating vessel. 
After the scenes of horror we had recently wit- 
nessed, it seemed as if the hour of retribution 
had arrived, and that Heaven designed to de- 
stroy the blood-stained earth at one fell swoop. 
The dwelling in which we lodged was terribly 
shaken, and the room inhabited by Lady Sale 
fell in, — her ladyship, who happened to be 
standing on the roof just above it, having 
barely time to escape. Most providentially, all 
the ladies, with their children, made a timely 
rush into the open air at the commencement of 
the earthquake, and entirely escaped injury. 
Gen. Elphinstone, being bedridden, was for 
several moments in a precarious position, from 
which he was rescued by the intrepidity of his 
servant Moore, a private of H. M. 44th, who 
rushed into his room and carried him forth in 
his arms. The poor General, notwithstanding 
all that had occurred to cloud his fame, was 
greatly beloved by the soldiery, of whom there 
were few who would not have acted in a similar 
manner to save his life. The quaking continued 
for several minutes with unabated violence, and 
a slight tremor in the earth was perceptible 
throughout the remainder of the day. The 
Aftghans were, for the time being, overwhelmed 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



with terror ; for, though slight shocks of earth- 
quake are of common occurrence every year 
during the cold season, none so fearful as this 
had visited the country within the memory of 
the present generation. We shortly learned 
that our fort had been singularly favoured, 
almost every other fort in the valley having 
been laid low, and many inhabitants destroyed 
in the ruins. The town of Turghiirree espe- 
cially seems to have suffered severely, scarcely 
a house being left standing, and several hun- 
dreds of people having been killed in the fall. 

The first idea that struck the AfTghans, after 
their fears had subsided, was, that the defences 
of Jellalabad must have been levelled to the 
ground, and a high road made for the Sirdar 
and his followers to walk in. Elevated by this 
hope, they confidently attributed the late phe- 
nomenon to a direct interposition of the Prophet 
in their favour. 

We all passed the night in the open air, 
being afraid to trust the tottering walls of our 
habitation, especially as shocks of earthquake 
continued to occur almost every hour, some of 
which were rather severe. 

February 2\st. — The swords of Gen. Elphin- 
stone and Brigadier Shelton were this day re- 
turned to them by order of the Sirdar. 

February 23(Z. — Capt. Bygrave joined us in 
a very weak state, having suffered much from 
frost in one foot, and having entirely lost the 
ends of his toes. His adventures, after leaving 
Jugdulluk, were perilous, and his ultimate 
escape wonderful. After starting from Jug- 
dulluk on the night of the 12th January, he 
was one of the first to surmount the strong 
barriers of prickly holly-oak which choked the 
pass. Collecting a small party of the men, who 
were similarly fortunate, he harangued them on 
the absolute necessity of their holding firmly 
together in the bond of discipline, for the pre- 
servation of their lives, declaring his willing- 
ness to lead them, if they would only obey 
orders, and act with spirit adequate to the 
emergency. The men, thus addressed, set up 
a loud cheer, and protested their intention to be 
guided solely by his commands and wishes. For 
three or four miles they steadily kept their 
ranks, and held the pursuing enemy at bay ; but 
at length the repeated onsets of the AfTghan 
horsemen, who every moment increased in num- 
ber in their rear, threw the little band /into con- 
fusion, which Capt. Bygrave exerted himself in 
vain to remedy. The men would neither hold 
together, nor pursue their march with that 
steadiness of purpose, on which hung their 
only chance of safety. Capt. Bygrave at length 
finding all his efforts to save them unavailing, 
and foreseeing the inevitable destruction of the 
whole party, determined, as a last resource, to 
strike off the high road and endeavour to make 
his way over the hills to Jellalabad. Mr. Ba- 
ness, an enterprising merchant, who had become 
involved in the difficulties that beset our army, 
was induced to accompany him in this hazard- 
ous undertaking. Their course for the first few 



miles was altogether north, in order to get as 
far as possible from the track of the pursuing 
Giljyes : by day they sought close cover — now 
among long rushes in the low bed of a mountain 
stream, and now under the thick foliage of 
evergreen shrubs on the summit of some lofty 
snow-clad peak. Their sole subsistence was a 
few dry grains of coffee, of which Mr. Baness 
had a small supply in his pocket, with an occa- 
sional bit of wild liquorice root, which they 
fortunately discovered growing in the bed of the 
Soorkab river. Travelling entirely at night, 
they experienced great difficulties in steering 
a direct course among the tortuosities of the 
innumerable ravines, which every v;here inter- 
sected their desultory track ; on one occasion 
they found themselve.s suddenly upon the high 
road, where the first sight that offered itself 
was the mangled body of an European soldier ; 
and, fearing to proceed along a path so lately 
beset with enemies, they were obliged to avoid 
the danger by retracing their steps for many 
miles. Thus passed four wearisome nights 
and days, during which time Capt. Bygrave, 
with frost-bitten feet, and worn-out shoes, had 
suffered so much from lameness, as to become 
more and more incapable of progressing; until 
at last, in the extreme of weakness and misery, 
having declared to Mr. Baness his inability to 
proceed further, he endeavoured to persuade 
that gentleman to seek with him the nearest 
village, and throw themselves on the protection 
of a chief. Mr. Baness would not, however, 
consent to run such hazard, and declared his 
intention to pursue his course to Jellalabad, if 
possible. Loth, however, to forsake his com- 
panion, he urged him unavailingly to fresh 
exertion ; and at length, declaring that for th& 
sake of his large family he was bound to pro- 
ceed onward without delay, he took a mournful 
leave of his fellow-traveller, and, after twice 
returning in the forlorn hope of prevailing on 
him to move, departed on his solitary way. 
Left to himself, under such helpless circum- 
stances, Capt. Bygrave almost yielded to de^ 
spair, — but, after a prolonged slumber, found 
himself strong enough to walk, or rather crawl,, 
a few miles further. The second night after 
Mr. Baness's departure brought him to a Giljye- 
village,* where, lying concealed till morning 
under some straw in a cave, he gave himself 
up to the first person who came near, who, 
being easily conciliated by the offer of some- 
gold, conducted him to a neighbouring hut; — 
hence, after partaking of some refreshment, he 
was led to the residence of the chief of the 
village, Nizam Khan, who received him hospi- 
tably, and treated him with the utmost kindness- 
for several days, when he was delivered up tO' 
the Sirdar, then encamped at Cbarbagh, in the 
neighbourhood of Jellalabad. There he found 
the chief actively employed in preparing gun- 
ammunition for the proposed siege ; several of 
our captured guns were there, from which the 

* Kutch Soorkab, four miles north of Gundamuk. 



64 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



AfFghan smiths managed to extract the spikes 
in a very few hours. 

March dd. — Severe shocks of earthquake 
every day. The Meerza, professing to have 
received an order from the Sirdar, insisted on 
searching the boxes of Lady Macnaghten and 
'Captaia Lawrence. Unfortunately, the former 
had a great number of valuable Cashmere 
shawls, all of which were critically examined 
in order to ascertain their probable worth : but 
much disappointment was evinced that no 
jewels were forthcoming, as it was generally 
believed that her ladyship possessed a large 
assortment. Nothing was taken from her on 
this occasion ; but it might easily be foreseen 
that such booty would ere long prove an irresist- 
ible temptation to our Giljye friends. 

A cruel scene took place after this, in the 
expulsion from the fort of all the unfortunate 
Hindoostanees, whose feet had been crippled by 
the frost. The limbs of many of these poor 
wretches had completely withered, and had be- 
come as black as a coal ; the feet of others had 
dropped off from the ankle ; and all were suf- 
fering such excruciating torture as it is seldom 
the lot of man to witness. Yet the unmerciful 
Giljyes, regardless of their sufferings, dragged 
them forth along the rough ground, to perish 
miserably in the fields, without food or shelter, 
or the consolations of human sympathy. The 
real author of these atrocities was generally 
believed to be the owner of the fort, Slahomed 
Shah Khan. The Meerza, however, though 
compelled to carry the order into effect, read- 
mitted several of the unfortunate victims at 
night. 

March 10th. — In consequence of the repeated 
earthquakes, we deserted the house, and took 
up our abode in some small wooden huts con- 
structed by our servants. To-night our slumber 
was broken by loud cries of "iMurder !" which 
were found to proceed from Lady Sale's Hin- 
doostanee ayah, whom one of her admirers, in 
a fit of jealousy, had attempted to strangle in 
her sleep. The wretch failing in his purpose, 
jumped over the wall, which was about twenty 
feet high, and, being discovered in the morning, 
narrowly escaped a hanging by Lynch law at 
the hands of the Meerza, who was with diffi- 
culty persuaded to alter his sentence to banish- 
ment from the fort. 

March llth. — Dost Mahomed Khan, accom- 
panied by Imam Verdi, arrived from the Sirdar, 
and held a long private conference with Major 
Pottinger. It was generally supposed that Ma- 
homed Akber had made some overtures to the 
Indian government relative to the return of the 
Ameer his father. Reports were in circulation 
of the fall ofGhuznee, which afterwards proved 
too true. We also learned on good authority 
that Khoda Bux Khan, a powerful Giljye chief, 
had left the Sirdar, whose cause seemed on the 
decline. 

March 12th. — Very heavy rain. Heard of 
Gen. Sale's sortie from Jellalabad in conse- 
quence of a supposed attempt on the part of the 



Affghans to mine the walls; — many of the 
enemy killed. 

March ISth. — A report abroad, which turned 
out true, that the Sirdar was wounded in the 
left arm by one of his own followers, who had 
been bribed with a lack of rupees by Shah 
Shooja. The assassin was ripped open, accord- 
ing to Affghan custom in such cases. 

March 18th. — The Meerza was this day re- 
called by the Sirdar, and his place filled by the 
Nazir of Mahomed Shah Khan, Saleh Maho- 
med. We heard of the murder of Shah Shooja 
by the hand of Shooja Dowla, eldest son of Nu- 
wab Zeman Khan, who shot the unfortunate old 
king with a double-barrelled gun, as they were 
proceeding together to the royal camp at Seeah 
Sung. It is a curious fact tiiat Shah Shooja 
was present at the birth of his murderer, to 
whom he gave his own name on the occasion. 

March 21st. — The inhabitants of this valley 
are said to be removing their families and pro- 
perty to the hills for safety. The Safees, a 
mountain tribe in the neighbourhood, were said 
to have created much alarm, having been bought 
over by Capt. Macgregor. 

March 2Ath. — The Nazir endeavoured to find 
out what amount of ransom was likely to be 
paid for us, and gave out that two lacks of ru- 
pees would be accepted. This, however, seemed 
to us all a mere ruse to fathom our purses, and 
he was referred to Capt. Macgregor for the in- 
formation he required. 

March 29th. — Sooltan Jan is said to have 
gone to oppose General Pollock with 1000 horse. 

April 1st. — We received letters from Jella- 
labad, by which we learned that Gen. Pollock 
had authorized Capt. Macgregor to ransom us. 
A severe thunderstorm at night. 

April Sd. — Heard of the destruction of the 
27th N. I. at Ghuznee, and of another success-- 
ful sortie made by Gen. Sale at Jellalabad, by 
which he obtained a large supply of cattle. 

April 9th. — Tidings brought of Mahomed 
Akber's camp at Char Bagh having been sur- 
prised by Gen. Sale, when his whole force was 
completely routed, three guns recaptured, and 
the Sirdar himself and friends barely managed 
to save themselves by flight. The arrival of 
Mahomed Shah Khan this evening confirmed 
this joyful intelligence. It had been reported 
to us this morning that at a council of chiefs 
held at Tirghnrree on the previous night, much 
debate had taken place regarding the disposal of 
their prisoners, when it was proposed by some 
to destroy us at once : our anxiety was, there- 
fore, intense all day, until the Khan by his 
friendly manner somewhat reassured us. He 
had a long interview with Major Pottinger, 
who endeavoured to propose terms for our re- 
lease ; to which, however, the Khan would not 
listen for a moment, but said we must follow 
the Sirdar's fortune, who would start for the 
hills early next morning. 

April 10th. — We were all ready for a start 
at an early hour, but no camels came till 3 
p. M. ; meanwhile a scene of pillage went on, 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



65 



in which Mahomed Shah Khan acted the part 
of robber-chief. His first act was to select all 
our best horses for himself, after which he deli- 
berately rummaged Lady Macnaghten's baggage, 
from which he took sbawls to the value of 5000Z. 
He next demanded her jewels, which she was 
obliged reluctantly to give up, their value being 
estimated at 10,000?., or a lack of rupees. Not 
satisfied even with this rich plunder, he helped 
himself freely out of Capt. Lawrence's boxes 
to every thing that look his fancy ; after which, 
being well aware of the poverty of the rest, he 
departed. Fortunately my own riding horse 
was spared, through the kind interference of 
the Meerza who accompanied the Khan. This 
characteristic little drama having been acted, 
the signal was given for our departure, the Eu- 
ropean soldiers being left behind, with a promise 
of release on the payment of a ransom. 

It was a treat to got free of the dismal high 
walls, within which we had been so long im- 
mured ; and as we had arrived in the depth of 
winter, when all was bleak and desolate to the 
eye, the universal verdure with which returning 
spring had now clothed the valley struck us 
with all the force of magic. We had proceeded 
about four miles on the road towards Alishung, 
when our progress was arrested by a few horse- 
men, who galloped up waving their hands joy- 
fully, and crying out " Shabash !" " Bravo !" 
" All is over ! the Feringhee army has been 
cut up in the Khyber Pass, and all their guns 
taken by Sultan Jan !" The mutual joy of the 
Afl^ghans seemed so perfectly sincere, that, not- 
withstanding the improbability of the story, we 
felt almost compelled to believe it, especial- 
ly when the order was given to return forth- 
with to our old quarters at Buddeeabad. On 
the way back the new-comers entered into 
full-length particulars regarding the alleged de- 
feat of our army. The Ensofzyes, they said, 
had agreed to take three lacks of rupees for the 
free passage of our troops through the Khyber, 
of which half was paid in advance. They had 
no sooner fingered the cash, than they laid a 
trap with Sultan Jan for the simultaneous attack 
of the front and rear of the army in the nar- 
rowest part of the pass, which had proved en- 
tirely successful. We found the poor soldiers 
delighted to see us again ; for, having heard 
several shots fired after our departure, they 
imagined we had all been killed. We were 
not long in discovering that the story we had 
heard was all a hoax, the real cause of our sud- 
den return being some dispute among the chiefs, 
in consequence of which an attack on our party 
was anticipated ; but we were told to hold our- 
selves in readiness for a fresh start on the fol- 
lowing morning. 

The whole population of the valley are in the 
greatest consternation for fear of an attack from 
the English force, and are bundling their families 
up to the hills for safety. 

April Wth. — We were off again at 12 a. m. 
The first three miles were along the Tirghurree 
road, after which we struck off to the hills to the 

9 



right. Our course now became westerly, and 
skirting the base of the hills for four or five miles, 
we crossed a low ridge into the cultivated valley 
of Alishung; where, after crossing a rapid, we 
passed close by Mahomed Akber Khan on the 
opposite bank, seated in a nalkee on a knoll by 
the road-side. He looked ill and careworn, but 
returned our salutes politely. A little further 
on we found three tents pitched for our reception, 
in which we had scarcely time to take shelter 
ere the rain fell in torrents, and continued all 
night. A very indift'erent dish of tough mutton 
constituted our meal for the day. In the Course 
of the evening Sultan Jan arrived in the camp, 
with only about thirty horsemen left of the 
thousand with whom he went forth to battle; 
the rest had all fled. He seemed grievously 
crestfallen, and, unlike the Sirdar, exhibited 
his malice and spleen by cutting our acquaint- 
ance. Mahomed Akber, with the liberality 
which always marks the really brave, invariably 
attributes his own defeat to the fortune of war, 
and loudly extols the bravery exhibited by our 
troops led on by the gallant Sale. The guard 
around our camp consisted entirely of Seiks, 
under a Mussulman Rajah, who, having been 
banished many years ago by Runjeet Sing, was 
befriended by Dost Mahomed Khan, the then 
ruler of Cabul, to whose family he has ever since 
attached himself. He was a splendid-looking 
fellow, with very prepossessing manners, and 
expressed himself much disgusted with the 
Aflghans, who took advantage of his going out 
to fight at Char Bagh to plunder his camp. Al- 
together, he seemed well disposed towards us, 
which, under our present circumstances, was 
cheering. 

April Vlth. — At our first starting this morn- 
ing the bachelors were separated from the mar- 
ried families and ladies, and we went off by dif- 
ferent roads. This sudden separation being very 
disagreeable to us all, Capt. Lawrence besought 
the Sirdar to permit us to proceed together 
as before. He also remonstrated with him for 
dragging the ladies and children with him all 
over the country, when they were so ill able to 
bear up against fatigue and exposure, represent- 
ing that it would redound more to his honour to 
release them at once. Mahomed Shah Khan, 
who was present, upon this flew into a rage, and 
declared that " wherever he went we must all 
follow; that if our horses failed, we must trudge 
on foot ; and that if we lagged behind, he would 
drag us along by force." He is the greatest 
enemy we have, and seems at present to govern 
the Sirdar completely. He was, however, taken 
to task by Mahomed Akber for his rudeness, and 
we were allowed to proceed all together, as here- 
tofore. The road lay among low hills over a sandy 
soil, with several slight ascents and descents, one 
ascent being rather steep and long. About half 
way we crossed a small stream, and, after travel- 
ling about twelve miles, found the camp pitched 
in a narrow ravine, through which flowed a rivu- 
let, the ground being covered with bunches of 
tall reeds, to which the AfTghans set fire at 



66 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



night. Two old goats were sent us for dinner, 
which, not being fit to eat, we returned, and 
were afterwards supplied with an awfully tough 
old sheep in exchange. 

April 13th. — The road again lay over steeps. 
On the left we saw the pass of Udruk-budruk in 
the distance. We gathered quantities of a cu- 
rious herbaceous plant, the under surface of 
whose leaves was covered with a beautiful crim- 
son dewy-looking substance, which the Affghan 
ladies use as rouge. About twelve miles brought 
us to a small scantily-cultivated valley, in which 
were two small forts partially ruined by the 
earthquake. The inhabitants enjoy the credit 
of being the greatest thieves in the whole coun- 
try, so they must be bad indeed. Our whole 
march was about fourteen miles. 

April 14:th. — At starting we crossed the pass 
of Bad-push, the ascent up which was not less 
than 1600 feet over a very steep and rocky road. 
The descent was less abrupt and comparatively 
short. On these hills grew the holly-oak, wild 
almond, and a terebinthaceous tree called Khin- 
juck, yielding a fragrant medicinal gum, which 
I imagined might be the myrrh or balsam of 
commerce. It is, at all events, in great repute 
among the Affghans, who find it efficacious for 
sabre wounds. A species of mistletoe grew in 
great profusion on its branches; the flower 
somewhat resembled that of the mango, and the 
young leaves were oblong, lanceolate, opposite, 
and slightly serrate. An evergreen shrub, with 
a jasmine-like flower, was very abundant. 

Following ihe course of a stream about six 
miles, we reached the left bank of the Cabul 
river, which here issued from between some 
precipitous hills with an exceedingly rapid cur- 
rent. About a hundred yards from the bank 
stood a small fort. We crossed on a raft of in- 
flated bullock-hides, the motion of which we 
found exceedingly pleasant. The horses crossed 
by a ford some distance higher up and about four 
miles round. On the right bank we found Ma- 
homed Akber in his nalkee, to whom we paid 
our respects. The stream is. about a hundred 
yards broad, and a few Affghans swam their 
horses over, though with some difficulty. The 
river is not navigable from this to Jellalabad, 
owing to the number of rapids and whirlpools. 

April 15th. — We were kept waiting until 
noon for our horses, and in the mean time were 
amused by seeing a herd of cattle swim over 
the river; in attempting which they were all 
carried violently down a rapid, and several, fail- 
ing to effect a landing, were obliged to return 
along the bank and make a second effort. No 
camels were brought with kujawurs for the 
weak ladies and the sick, who were accordingly 
forced to ride on horseback. Poor Gen. Elphin- 
stone, who left Buddeeabad in a most precarious 
state of health, was much shattered by the fa- 
tigues of travelling, and seemed to be gradually 
sinking to the grave. The road ran for a mile 
along the bank of the river, and then suddenly 
turned up a ravine to the right. Two miles 
more led to a valley communicating with that 



of Tezeen, about a mile up which we encamped 
outside the fort of Surroobee, where we had 
previously halted on the 12th of January. Here 
was one of the mountain-train guns which had 
been captured on the retreat. We found that 
our Hindoostanee servants, who remained be- 
hind here, had been well treated by Abdoolah 
Khan, but the majority had died from the effects 
of frost-bites. 

April 16th. — Mahomed Akber fortunately 
found it convenient to halt here, which proved 
seasonable both to man and beast; but we were 
told to expect a long journey into the hills in 
the neighbourhood of Tezeen, where it is the 
Sirdar's intention to conceal us. An Affghan, 
lately arrived from Cabul, informed us that the 
city was divided into two great parties, of whom 
the Dooranees and Kuzzilbashes formed one, 
and the Barukzies and Giljyes the other. 

April 17th. — Another halt enabled us to enjoy 
a quiet Sunday. The Sirdar and a portion of 
his followers paid a visit to some neighbouring 
chiefs, but his people were deserting him fast. 
The Giljyes have been trying hard to excite the 
fears of the peasantry against the English by 
tales of our cruelty and oppression. 

April 18th. — Having been warned last night 
to be ready for a march at dawn of day, we 
were all on the alert; but, after waiting a long 
time for orders to mount, we received a mes- 
sage from Mahomed Akber that we should 
await his return. 

Api-il 19th. — It rained hard all night and 
continued to pour the whole day, but we were 
obliged, nevertheless, to march sixteen miles to 
Tezeen. The road was up a narrow valley the 
whole way, crossing a stream twice before 
reaching Seh Baba, which we passed halfway, 
after which we crossed the stream continually. 
At Seh Baba we encountered a putrid smell 
from the decomposed bodies of those who fell 
on the retreat, which lined the whole road. In 
some places we passed high piles of hijman 
bodies still fresh, the remains probably of those 
unfortunate beings who, having escaped the 
knives of the Ghazees, had struggled for exist- 
ence until they sunk under the combined mise- 
ries of famine and exposure. The Affghans in- 
formed us that many had been driven to the 
miserable expedient of supporting life by feed- 
ing off the flesh of their deceased comrades ! — 
From Seh Baba to Tezeen is one continued rise, 
the valley being about half a mile broad and 
shut in by lofty heights on both sides. The 
stream is at this season a perfect torrent from 
the melting snow. We passed several encamp- 
ments of the wandering Giljyes, whose flocks 
browsed on the neighbouring hills. We were 
all wet to the skin in spite of our posleens, or 
sheepskin cloaks, and, on arriving at Mahomed 
Khan's fort at Tezeen, we found it so much 
dilapidated by the earthquake as to afford only 
the most scanty accommodation. The poor 
ladies were at first crammed into a small dirty 
room, filled with Affghan women, where they 
sat in their dripping clothes until, after much 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



67 



delay and trouble, they were accommodated with 
a separate apartment. As for the ifentletnen, 
they had to scramble for shelter in a dark con- 
fined hovel, Capt. Mackenzie and myself pre- 
ferring to pass the night in a stable with our 
horses, the rain dripping over us until morning. 

This day's exposure decided the fate of Gen. 
Elphinstone, who reached the fort in a dying 
state. 

Captain Mackenzie received an intimation 
this night of the Sirdar's intention to send him 
on a mission to Gen. Pollock's camp at Jellala- 
bad. 

April 20th. — It rained the whole day, and, 
having nothing dry to put on, we were more 
uncomfortable than ever. Mrs. Waller was 
delivered of a daughter. This was the fourth 
addition to our number of captives ; Mrs. Boyd, 
Mrs. Riley, and a soldier's wife named Byrne, 
having been confined during our sojourn at Bud- 
deeabad. A peculiar Providence seemed on all 
occasions to watch over the ladies, and nothing 
surprised us more than the slight nature of their 
sufferings on these occasions. 

There was a severe shock of earthquake again 
to-day. These shocks have always appeared to 
me to be in some way connected with heavy 
rain beforehand. 

April 21st. — Some tents having been pitched 
outside the fort, the whole of our pany removed 
into them, with exception of the Wallers, our- 
selves. Gen. Elphinstone, Major Pottinger, Capt. 
Mackenzie, and Dr. Magrath, to all of whom 
permission was given to remain for the present 
in the fort. Atta Mahomed Khan, the owner 
of the place, exprevssed to us much annoyance 
at the conduct of his kinsman Mahomed Shuh 
Khan in stirring up the rebellion, and hinted at 
his own desire to be on friendly terms with our 
government. It seems he was promised remu- 
neration by Capt. Macgregor tor the damage 
done to his property by Gen. Sale's force in 
October 1841, to the fulfilment of which pledge 
he still looked forward. 

The Sirdar was holding a levee to-day, at 
which Major Pottinger was present, when he 
burst into a violent passion, and declared that 
his own countrymen had basely deserted and 
betrayed him, although he had all along acted 
entirely at the instigation of thechiefri at Cabul, 
especially in the murder of the Cnvoy and the 
destruction of our army; yet these very men 
now refused to support him ; and he solemnly 
swore that, if ever he had the power, a severe 
example should be made of them. 

A part of the outer wall fell to-day from the 
effects of yesterday's earthquake. At night the 
ladies of Mahomed Shah Khan, and other chiefs 
who were travelling in our company, invited 
Mrs. Eyre to dinner. She found them exceed- 
ingly kind in manner and prepossessing in out- 
ward appearance, being both well dressed and 
good looking. They asked her the old question 
as to the gender of the Company Sahib, and 
were greatly wonderstruck to learn that Eng- 
land was governed by a woman. They ex- 



pressed the utmost dread of Capt. Macgregor, 
whom they regard in the same formidable light 
in which a child does the giant of a nursery 
tale. 

April 22d. — A great bustle was created at an 
early hour this morning by the arrival of a mes- 
senger from the Sirdar to Dost Mahomed Khan, 
who was awakened from his slumbers in the 
General's room and immediately hurried away. 
Our fellow-captives in camp marched shortly 
afterwardsfor the Zanduk valley, near the Aman 
Koh, about eight miles south of Tezeen. There 
was apparently some apprehension entertained 
of a surprise from Cabul, as we ourselves were 
hurried off at about 9 a. m. to a small fort two 
miles higher up the valley, whither the Sirdar 
had preceded us. This sudden movement was 
a deathstroke to the General, who, though so 
weak as to be unable to stand, was made to ride 
on horseback the whole way. 

April 2'3d. — Mahomed Akber received about 
6000 rupees from Cabul, probably sent by his 
uncle, Nuwab Jubbar Khan. Futty Jung, the 
eldest son of the murdered monarch, retained 
possession of the Bala Hissar, and demanded 
from the Sirdar that all the European prisoners 
should be rendered up to him. The residents 
of Cabul, we learned, were deserting the city 
in great numbers, from dread of our army, and 
all efforts to induce the people to oppose Gen. 
Pollock's advance were fruitless. This inform- 
ation at once decided the Sirdar to send Capt. 
Mackenzie to treat with Gen. Pollock without 
further delay, and that officer was warned to be 
in readiness to start at a moment's notice. 

Some one having told the Sirdar that I could 
draw faces, he sent for me on that pretence ; 
but to my surprise pumped me for half an hour 
on artillery matters, being very inquisitive as 
to the manufacture of fuses and port-fires, the 
mode of throwing shells from mortars and ho- 
witzers, and the mode of regulating the length 
effuse lor different distances, on all which sub- 
jects I enlightened him just enough to render 
his darkness visible. Before I went, he requested 
me to take the likeness of one of his followers, 
and of a favourite Arab horse, and, though my 
performance was very indifferent, he expressed 
himself pleased. I was afterwards called to 
exafnine a sextant which had been just brought 
to him : it was greatly damaged, but I explained 
its uses; after which, finding he could make no 
better use of it, he made me remove the coloured 
glasses, which he proposed to convert into spec- 
tacles to preserve his eyes from the glare. 

About 7 p. M. Major-General Elphinstone 
breathed his last, — a happy release for him from 
suffering of mind and body. Deeply he felt his 
humiliation, and bitterly regretted the day when 
he resigned the home-born pleasures of his 
native land, to hazard the high reputation of a 
proud name in a climate and station, for which 
he was constitutionally unfit. Of his merits I 
have already spoken at large in another place; 
but it is due no less to the memory of the dead 
than to the large circle of living friends and 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



relatives, who, I feel assured will mourn his 
loss, that I should record how, to the very last 
moment of his being, he exhibited a measure of 
Christian benevolence, patience, and high-souled 
fortitude, which gained him the aifectionate re- 
gard and admiring esteem of all who witnessed 
his prolonged sufferings and his dying struggles, 
and who regarded him as the victim less of his 
own faults, than of the errors of others, and the 
unfathomable designs of a mysterious Provi- 
dence, by whom the means are always adapted 
to the end. The Sirdar seemed to have been 
unconscious of the General's extreme danger 
until this morning, when he offered, too late, to 
grant him his release. Had he listened to the 
advice of those who wished him well, he would 
" have adopted this generous course at Buddeea- 
bad ; but his chief supporters were interested 
in keeping him in the dark, and in frustrating 
every scheme that tended to reconcile him to 
the British nation ; so the timely counsel was 
unheeded. His eyes at last were opened to 
the truth ; and he now endeavoured to make 
all the amends in his power by offering to send 
the remains for honourable interment at Jella- 
labad. At 8 a. m. Capt. Mackenzie departed on 
his mission, which related principally to the 
release of the ladies and children. 

Aprih'Zbth. — A rude framework having been 
constructed by an Affghan carpenter, the Gene- 
ral's body, after being well covered up in felt 
blankets, was packed in it, and the vacant spaces 
filled with the highly-scented leaves of worm- 
wood. At 2 p. M., all being ready, it was 
slung across the back of a camel, and sent off 
under a small guard of Giljyes, accompanied by 
one of the European soldiers who attended the 
deceased, whom the Sirdar thought likely to 
pass unnoticed in the common costume of the 
country. The Sirdar afterwards invited us all 
to sit with him outside the fort. Whilst we 
were engaged in conversation, a messenger 
arrived with letters from Loodianah, informing 
him that his family had been starved for a whole 
week. On being told the contents, we all im- 
mediately pronounced the whole a mischievous 
fabrication ; upon which the Sirdar somewhat 
bombastically proclaimed his disregard whether 
it were true or false, for that the destruction of 
his whole family should not alter his resolutions. 
He then resumed the previous conversation as 
if nothing had occurred, in the course of which 
he told me that the daily loss of life, by the fire 
of the cantonment guns during the siege, was 
between thirty and forty, but he declared that 
the shells fired from the Bala Hissar into the 
city did little or no damage to life or property. 

April 26th. — Sad to say, the poor General's 
body was interrupted on its journey near Jug- 
dull uk. It seems that the party in charge, on 
approaching the .camp of some wandering Gil- 
jyes, were challenged, and thought that the 
best way to avoid discovery would be to assume 
confidence, and to come to a halt there for the 
night. The European soldier was covered up 
with blankets, and warned to remain quiet until 



morning. About 10 p. m., however, he was 
roused by a tumult of angry voices, in which 
the words " Feringhee" and " Kafir" were fre- 
quently repeated. A rush was shortly after 
made to where he was lying, and the covering 
being snatched from off his head, he was im- 
mediately attacked, and wounded in the arm 
with a sword, nothing saving his life but the 
thick blanket of felt which covered his body, 
and the interposition of a chief, who hurried 
him off to his tent. The bigoted savages next 
stripped the body of the General, which they 
pelted with stones, and would have burned, but 
for the remonstrances of the Sirdar's men, who 
threatened them with the vengeance of their 
master. Mahomed Akber's annoyance was 
great on receiving these awkward tidings, but 
ire lost no time in despatching as large a party 
as he could spare, to rescue the European and 
repack the body. 

In the course of conversation with Major 
Pottinger, the Sirdar asked him whether he 
would take his oath that he had never written 
any thing to Jellalabad, but what had come to 
his (the Sirdar's) knowledge. The Major main- 
tained a significant silence, but shortly after- 
wards, having occasion to remark that, if the 
treaty had been fulfilled, not a British soldier 
would now have remained iu Affghanistan, the 
Sirdar emphatically asked him if he would 
swear to the truth of what he uttered, to which 
the Major readily consenting, the Sirdar seemed 
now for the first time to believe what he had 
before utterly discredited, and looked around 
upon his followers with an expression of face 
which seemed to say, " What a miserable fool 
then have I been !" 

April 27th. — The Sirdar started with Major 
Pottinger to visit our fellow-prisoners in the 
Zanduh valley. Lieut. Waller and myself, in 
the course of our evening stroll, amused our- 
selves in observing some Juzailchees firing at a 
mark about 100 yards distant: almost every 
shot was well directed, but they were all so 
dilitory in loading, that a British soldier could 
have fired four or five shots to their one. 

The European soldier who accompanied the 
General's body returned this evening, having 
been rescued by the Sirdar's men from the 
savages who detained him, and who now pro- 
fessed great contrition for having offended the 
Sirdar. The body, after being repacked, had 
been forwarded on its way to Jellalabad. 

April 28th. — A cossid, bearing a letter from 
Capt. Conolly to Gen. Pollock, was intercepted 
and severely beaten by the Sirdar's men, and 
detained a prisoner until his return. 

April 29th. — A wild sheep was brought in, 
having been shot in the neighbouring hills. Its 
horns resembled those of a common ram, but its 
face and general outline were not unlike an 
antelope, though more coarse and clumsy. 

April 30th. — The Sirdar and Major Pottinger 
returned from their excursion. Whilst at Zan- 
duh, Ameenoolah Khan and other chiefs sent to 
demand that Major Pottinger should be delivered 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



up to him, or twelve lacks of rupees in his stead. 
The bills given by the Major on the Indian 
Government, payable on the safe arrival of the 
Cabul force at Jellalabad, having been dis- 
honoured, the chiefs have been endeavouring to 
extort the money from the Hindoo shroffs. 

May \st. — To-night the Sirdar sent us a large 
supply of English letters and newspapers which 
had just come from Jellalabad, where Capt. 
Mackenzie had arrived safe. These were the 
first letters we had received for eight months, 
and we sat up the greater part of the night de- 
vouring their contents. 

May 2d. — I was sent for by the Sirdar to 
examine a cavalry saddle, as he was anxious to 
know whether it was made of hog's skin. I 
told him it was a difficult question to decide, as 
both hog and cow skins were used, and could 
not easily be distinguished. As he gave me 
some knowing winks, and was evidently most 
unwilling that a good saddle should be sacri- 
ficed to the religious scruples of his moolah, 
who was seated in the room, I voted in favour 
of the cow ; and, as Lieut. Waller afterwards 
declared himself on the same side, the Sirdar, 
considering that two witnesses decided the 
point, determined to hold his own : and I believe 
in his heart he cared little about the natural 
history of the hide, so long as it suited his pur- 
poses. 

Late at night I was roused from bed by a 
message from the Sirdar, who pressed me hard to 
go and tight for him at Cabul against Ameen- 
oollah Khan and Futty Jung. He was perfectly 
aware, he said, that no Englishman would serve 
against his own countrymen, but that in this 
case his enemies were equally hostile to the 
British ; so that, in fighting for him, I should 
be serving my own country. I replied that I 
was already badly wounded and tired of fighting 
for the present ; that I was quite incompetent, 
from my ignorance of AfFghan politics, to form 
an opinion as to the rights and merits of the 
case ; and that, even were I ever so much dis- 
posed to embrace his cause, no English officer 
or soldier could legally take arms under a sove- 
reign power, without having first obtained the 
consent of his own sovereign. My refusal ap- 
parently annoyed him a good deal, and I was 
obliged to repeat it several times before he 
would allow me to return to rest. 

May dd. — The Wallers and ourselves started 
for the Zanduh valley after breakfast, and had 
just mounted our horses, when Capt. Mackenzie 
made his appearance on his return from Jella- 
labad. His mission had not opened any imme- 
diate prospect of release for us, though the 
negotiation was, on the whole, of a friendly 
nature. After the exchange of a few words he 
was hurried off to the Sirdar, and we pursued 
our way to Zanduh. The road ascended the 
hills in a southeasterly direction, and was very 
steep and undulating for about three miles, 
when it descended into the narrow bed of a 
stream, one of the ramifications of the Tezeen 
valley, up which our course was southerly for 



the rest of the march. Four or five miles 
further brought us to camp, where the valley 
was a little wider, with cultivated steppes of 
land, on which the tents were pitched. Snow 
was still lying on the neighbouring heights, and 
about four miles further south the lofty mountain 
peak of Aman Koh reared its pine-clad crest. 
On our way we noticed the juniper, which uni- 
versally prevails in these hills, attaining in 
some spots the size of a goodly tree. Here and 
there we passed a few stunted pines, which 
might be considered as mere stragglers from 
the neighbouring forests of Suffed Koh. The 
wild almond, a showy and fragrant species of 
Edwardsia; a shrubby cratasgus-looking plant, 
covered with blossoms ; the yellow dog-rose, 
the sweet-briar, the artemisia, the white tulip, 
and a very pretty iris, constituted the prominent 
botanical features of the road over which we 
travelled. We found our friends enjoying them- 
selves during the heat of the day, in shady 
bowers formed of juniper : the climate seemed 
delightful. 

May 4itJi. — The Sirdar sent for Capt. Troup 
to accompany him and Major Pottinger to Ca- 
bul. Capt. Mackenzie was to start immediately 
on a second mission to Jellalabad. 

May 5tJi. — The English hostages at Cabul 
were said to be under the protection of a Syud, 
son of the chief moolah ; and Ameenoollah 
Khan, having endeavoured to seize them, had 
been driven into the Bala Hissar by Nuwab 
Zeman Khan, and his house in Cabul burned 
to the ground. 

May 7th. — A hard frost this morning ! the 
shrubs and herbs within reach of the spray of 
the stream being covered with large icicles. 
Our keeper now was Mahomed Rufeek, whose 
family resides at Candahar. From his pleasing 
manners, and constant civility and kindness, he 
soon became a general favourite. I took a long- 
walk with him to-day among the hills south of 
camp ; we saw nothing but juniper trees, ane- 
mones, and wild geraniums, the spring having^ 
only just commenced in that elevated region.. 
The rocks were chiefly of limestone, with ver- 
tical strata. 

May 8th. — This morning I was agreeably sur- 
prised by an Affgban bringing some of my own 
iDooks and sketches for sale, of which I imme- 
diately possessed myself In the forenoon a 
few drops of snow fell ! The last three days 
were bitterly cold, and we enjoyed a blazing 
fire at night. 

May 9th. — Enjoyed another walk in the 
hills, with a fine bracing air, and a magnificent 
view in the direction of Hindoo Khoosh, whose 
everlasting snows and jagged peaks bounded 
the scene. On our return we heard the cheer- 
ful note of the cuckoo. I found a curious para- 
site on the juniper. 

May XOth. — Capt. and Mrs. Anderson were 
agreeably surprised by the arrival of their eldest 
girl from Cabul. It will be remembered that 
she was lost in the Khoord-Cabul pass during 
the retreat on the 8th of January ; since which 



70 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



she had been an inmate of Nuwab Zeman 
Khan's family, where she was treated with the 
greatest possible kindness. She had been taught 
to say " My father and mother are intidels, but 
I am a Mussulman." Capt. Troup, who had 
obtained her release, wrote word that he and 
Major Pottinger were in Nuwab Jubbar Khan's 
house at Cabul ; that the city was in a most un- 
quiet state, and the opposite parties fighting 
every day, the Cabulees siding alternately with 
whichever side paid them best. At night, a 
note was received from Major Pottinger, who 
had just witnessed an engagement between the 
Barukzyes and Dooranees, in which the former 
were victorious ; but he described the affair as 
more ludicrous than tragical, having been a 
forcible representation of the " battle of spurs." 

May 12Lh. — Capts. Boyd, Waller, and my- 
self, accompanied by two Affghans, ascended 
some lofty hills to the west. Some Giljyes of 
the Jubbar Khail overtook us, and oflered to 
escort us to Jellalabad. Our attendants, in- 
stantly taking alarm, hurried us away home- 
wards. We had a fine view of Hindoo Khoosh 
to the north, and Suffeed Koh to the south. 
At the height of 2000 feet above our camp, 
the husbandmen were only now ploughing the 
ground, whilst in the Zanduh valley, imme- 
diately below, the crops were green. We de- 
scended by the bed of a stream, on whose 
steep sides a species of wild onion grew abund- 
antly. A beautiful friiillaria was also common ; 
and an asphodelous plant bearing a gigantic 
spadix of yellow flowers, which 1 took for an 
ornithogalum. On our return. Dost Mahomed 
Khan, who was encamped near us, rated Ma- 
homed Rufeek severely for allosving us to stray 
so far. This chief is a thorough boor in his 
ideas and manners, and is always exhibiting 
some mean and silly suspicion of our inten- 
tions: had it depended on him, we should all 
have been shut up in dark cells or narrow 
cages long ago. 

May iQlh. — Capt. Mackenzie returned from 
his second trip to Jellalabad, where Gen. El- 
phinstone's body had arrived safe and had been 
interred with due military honour. It does not 
appear that much was done towards effecting 
our release. The terms the Sirdar proposed to 
Gen. Pollock for our release were, — that he 
should be made governor of the Lughman pro- 
vince, and be exempted from attendance at 
^lourt, and uncontrolled by our political officers. 
Of this proposal Gen. Pollock very properly 
took not the smallest notice. It seems tiiat a 
despatch from the Sirdar, in which an offer 
was made to release the ladies and children un- 
conditionally, which was sent after Capt. Mac- 
kenzie, did not reach him, having been inter- 
cepted, as was supposed, by Mahomed Shah 
Khan. Gen. Nott was expected to march for 
Cabul from Candahar on the 17th instant. 

May lllh. — Capt. Mackenzie left for Cabul, 
to communicate the result of his mission to the 
Sirdar. 

May l&th, — Dost Mahomed Khan was much 



struck by hearing Mahomed Rufeek read a 
Persian translation of the " Sermon on the 
Mount" out of Gladwain's " Moonshee." He 
was fervent in his admiration of the Lord's 
Prayer, as well as of several other passages; 
and the injunction to pray in private seemed to 
throw light on our apparent neglect of outward 
observances. Corporal Lewis of H. M. 44th, 
who had been kept a prisoner at Tezeen in the 
fort of Khooda Bux Khan, was allowed to visit 
our camp to-day. The poor fellow had been 
starved and ill-treated by his savage captors, 
until he made an outward profession of Ma- 
homedanism, when he received the name of 
Deen Mahomed, and was made to attend pray- 
ers with the faithful. 

May 20th. — A beacon-light was burning all 
night on the hill above us, and pickets were 
thrown out in all directions. It was supposed 
that a chuppao, or night surprise, was expected. 

May '22d. — Our horses arrived from Cabul, 
for which city we received notice to march 
next morning. 

May 2'3d. — Marched about 9 a. m. Three of 
us obliged to walk for want of horses. Ladies 
travelled in kujawurs, laden on mules. We 
retraced our former track down the bed of the 
stream, and across the hills, to the fort where 
Gen. Elphinstone died. A few miles of descent 
made a great difference in the climate and the 
progress of vegetation ; the wild roses were 
every where in full bloom, and, with other gay 
flowers, scented the air and enlivened the scene. 
We crossed a branch of the Tezeen valley ; a 
short cut over the hills led us to the foot of the 
Huft Kotul, or hill of seven ascents. Here we 
once more encountered the putrid bodies of our 
soldiery, which thenceforward strewed the road 
as far as Khoord Cabul, poisoning the whole 
atmosphere. A little beyond Kubbur-i-jubbar 
we passed two caves, on opposite sides of the 
road, full as they could hold of rotten carcasses. 
Thence to Tungee Tureekee the sight became 
worse and worse. Mahomed Rufeek asked me 
whether all this would not excite the fury of 
Gen. Pollock's army ; I told him he need not 
be surprised if every house in Cabul were 
levelled to the ground. From the last-mentioned 
spot we turned off the high road to the left, and, 
passing a large ruined village, arrived at the 
fort of Khoord Cabul, — where we had previously 
lodged on the 9th of January, — after a fatiguing 
march of twenty-two miles. The contrast be- 
tween the summer and winter aspect of the 
valley immediately below the fort was striking : 
the whole now presenting one red field of culti- 
vation. 

May 24ZA. — Again on the move at 9 a. m. 
The Khoord Cabul pass being now absolutely 
intpassable from the stench of dead bodies, we 
took the direct road towards Cabul, having 
Alexander the Great's column in view nearly 
the whole day. The first three or four miles 
were over a barren plain, when the road entered 
among hills crossing a ghat of moderate height 
into a valley about three miles in width, in the 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



71^ 



middle of which we halted for half an hour at a 
deliciously cool and clear spring, which supplied 
a small tank or pond : just above this, crowning 
the hill to the lett, stood a ruined Grecian tope. 
Resuming our way, we again entered some hills, 
the road making a continuous ascerit for about a 
couple of miles to Alexander's pillar, one of the 
most ancient relics of antiquity in the East, and 
conspicuously situated on the crest of a moun- 
tain range which bounds the plain of Cabul on 
the southeast. It stands about seventy feet 
high ; the shaft is of the Doric order, standing 
on a cubic pedestal, and surmounted by a sort of 
urn. As we reached this classic spot, a view 
of almost unrivalled magnificence burst suddenly 
upon our sight. At the distance of some two 
thousand feet below, the whole picturesque and 
highly cultivated valley of Cabul was spread 
before us like a map: the towering mountain 
ranges of Kohistan and Hindoo Khoosh, clad in 
a pure vesture of snow, bounded the horizon, at 
the distance of nearly a hundred miles. The 
Bala Hissar was dimly discernible in the dis- 
tance, from whose battlements the roar of can- 
non broke ever and anon upon the ear, betoken- 
ing the prolongation of the strife between hos- 
tile tribes and ambitious chiefs. The descent 
was very long and tedious, and the road about 
midway very steep and bad. On the way down 
another Grecian pillar was discernible among 
the hills on the left. The rocks were chiefly of 
micaceous schist, and a dark stone resembling 
basalt. The gum-ammoniac plant grew here; 
the young flower was clustered together not un- 
like a small cauliflower. It is an umbelliferous 
plant, growing to the height of six feet, and its 
general appearance and mode of growth resem- 
bling an heracleum. It has a strong disagree- 
able scent, which reminded me slightly of assa- 
foetida. The gum exudes plentifully, and is at 
first milky, but afterwards turns to yellow, and 
has a bitter nauseous taste. The plant is called 
by the Affghans gundele, and the gum is sold in 
the Cabul bazar under the name offeshook. 

At the foot of the hill we rested at a tank or 
pond supplied by a large spring which gushes 
from under the rock; another ruined Grecian 
tope crowned a small eminence at a few hun- 
dred yards' distance. The road now skirted the 
base of the hills to the left for about four miles, 
when we reached the fort of AH Mahomed, 
Kuzzilbash, distant three miles from Cabul, and 
close to the Logur river, where we were ac- 
commodated for the night, having marched 
altogether about twenty miles. 

May 25th. — The ladies of Ali Mahomed hav- 
ing removed to a neighbouring fort, we occupied 
their apartments, which lined two sides of an 
inclosed square, and were very commodious, 
and decidedly the best quarters we have yet 
enjoyed. The valley about here is thickly stud- 
ded with forts, and very highly cultivated. 

May 26th. — Captain Troup paid us a visit. 
He told us the Sirdar was living in the outskirts 
of the city about two miles from us, that Amee- 
noollah Khan joined him, but that Futty Jung 



still held out in the Bala Hissar, in hopes of 
being soon relieved by the arrival of our army. 
Mahomed Akber is desirous to obtain possession 
of the citadel principally on account of the trea- 
sure within it, as he never professed to dream 
of resisting our arms. He earnestly desired to 
be on friendly terms with the British govern- 
ment, and often said that he wished he had been 
so fortunate as to become acquainted with the 
English in early life, as he had been filled with 
prejudices against them which had greatly in- 
fluenced his conducr, but which he now saw to 
be unfounded. It seems that Gen. Pollock 
offered on his own responsibility to release the 
ladies and children of his family from their con- 
finement, but in his present precarious stale 
of life the Sirdar has declined the offer. 

Hundreds of Hindostanees crowded the streets 
of Cabul begging for bread, which was daily 
served out to them by Nuwab Jubbar Khan and 
Zeman Khan. The civility of all classes to the 
European hostages and prisoners in and about 
Cabul was remarkable. 

May 27th. — We all received permission ta 
walk in the adjacent garden, and the gentlemen 
were allowed to bathe in a running canal near 
the fort, which, now that the weather had be- 
come sultry, were real luxuries. 

May 29th. — Shuja Dowlah, the assassin of 
Shah Shoojah, paid us a visit. He was a hand^ 
some quiet-looking man, whom few would have 
guessed to be the perpetrator of such a deed. 
He tried hard to persuade us that the Shah 
had played us false, and that he had committed a 
praiseworthy action in getting rid of him. The 
murder was committed at the instigation of 
Dost Mahomed Khan, Giljye, by way of retribu- 
tion for the attempt on Mahomed Akber's life 
at Charbagh by an agent of Shah Shoojah ; but 
the act is much reprobated by all classes at 
Cabul, and by no one more than the Nuwab 
Zuman Khan, who has banished Shuja Dowlah 
from hishouse ever since. 

May SOth. — Shah Dowla, another son of 
Nuwab Zuman Khan, paid us a visit, and in- 
quired particularly if we were well treated by 
the Sirdar. We vvere informed that, in conse- 
quence of the Sirdar having demanded the per- 
sons of the Naib Shereef Mohun Loll and the 
late wuzeer, the Kuzzilbash had risen in a body 
against him, and declared their intention to 
hold their part of the city until the arrival of 
our troops. We heard a great deal of firing to- 
night, and the extreme vigilance of our guard 
led us to suppose that the Sirdar's affairs were 
not prospering. Dost Mahomed Khan arrived 
in the fort at night. 

May 3lst. — Guns were heard all night, and 
we were refused permission to leave the fort, 
as usual, to-day. Mahomed Rufeek, wo were 
sorry to learn, had incurred suspicion, from 
his family having aided Gen. Nott at Candahar. 
He determined to throw up the Sirdar's service 
in consequence. 

June 1st. — Dost Mahomed Khan departed 
for the city accompanied by Mahomed Rufeek. 



72 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



Permission was again given us to go into the 
garden, and to bathe in the canal as before. 

June 2d. — Intelligence was brought us that 
Gen. Nott had obtained a victory at Kelat-i- 
Giljye, in which 2000 of the enemy were killed. 

June 'id. — It was reported that Futty Jung 
had offered a large reward to any one who 
would seize and escort us all to the BalatHissar. 
The Sirdar made a fierce attack on the Bala 
Hissar in the evening, and a brisk cannonade 
was kept up on both sides for several hours, but 
without any decisive result. 

June Ath. — Capt. Troup paid us a visit, bring- 
ing with him several necessaries, for which we 
had previously written to the Sirdar. It was 
believed in the city that one of the bastions of the 
Bala Hissar had been mined, but that the Sirdar 
was deferring its explosion in the hope that he 
might succeed without it, being unwilling to 
injure the defences of the place. But this re- 
port was probably set abroad for the purpose of 
intimidating the defenders, of whom only two 
men had been wounded during the whole siege 
up to this date. 

A messenger arrived this morning from Jel- 
lalabad with letters for Futty Jung and Lady 
Sale. From the latter wo learned that Gen. 
Pollock had written to Mahomed Akber, de- 
claring it to be contrary to the laws of nations 
to make war against women and children, 
which it was hoped might shame him into the 
release of that portion of his prisoners, who 
came under the benefit of the rule. 

Hopes began to be entertained of the safety 
of Dr. Grant of the Goorkha regiment, who 
was supposed to be concealed in Cabul. A 
shock of earthquake felt to-day. 

June 6th. — About 5 p. m. a good deal of firing 
was heard, and our garrison was in a state of 
great excitement. Futty Jung said to have 
sallied from the Bala Hissar and carried off a 
quantity of JVIahomed Akber's military stores 
and camels. At night we heard that the Sirdar 
had seized Ameenoolah Khan, whom he sus- 
pected of intriguing with Futty Jung, probably 
with good foundation. The Khan said to be 
worth 18 lacks of rupees, which it was the Sir- 
dar's intention to make him disgorge. Amee- 
noolah Khan was originally the son of a camel- 
driver, but by dint of his talents, bravery, and 
cunning, rose to be one of the most powerful 
nobles in the country. The late Ameer Dost 
Mahomed Khan feared and suspected him so 
much as to forbid hirn to enter Cabul. He pos- 
sessed the whole of the Logur valley, and could 
bring 10,000 men into the field. The accession 
of such a man to his cause was of much import- 
ance to Mahomed Akber, and his seizure was a 
dangerous step, being likely to provoke the hos- 
tility of his son. Ameenoolah Khan was the 
chief instigator of the rebellion, and of the mur- 
der of Sir Alexander Burnes; after which he 
lent the weight of his influence to each party 
alternately, as it suited his purpose. Such a 
vacillating wretch was not long likely to escape 
retributive justice. 



June 7th. — Contradictory reports were in cir- 
culation all day. Some affirm the Bala Hissar 
to have been taken ; others that the Sirdar 
had sustained a ruinous defeat, and that he 
was engaged in plundering the city, prior to 
taking flight. That something extraordinary 
had occurred was evident from the mysterious 
deportment of the Aftghans, and their anxiety 
to prevent our receiving any communication 
from without. A parcel of useful articles ar- 
rived for us from our good friends at Jellalabad, 
but every thing was opened by the guard at the 
gate, who gave us only what they chose, and 
seized all the letters, to send to the Sirdar. 
There was no firing from the Bala Hissar to- 
day as usual. The climate in this part of the 
valley we found delightfully cool and pleasant, 
which may have arisen in part from the luxu- 
riant cultivation round about. The most com- 
mon trees are the poplar, willow, mulberry, and 
oleaster, or sinjut, the bright silvery foliage of 
the latter contrasting strikingly with the deep 
green of the rest, and its flowers scattering a 
powerful and delicious perfume through the 
surrounding air. Purple centaurias adorned 
the corn fields, and a handsome species of hedy- 
sarum, with a lupin-like flower, enlivened the 
border of every field and water-course ; whilst a 
delicate kind of tamarisk ornamented the banks 
of the neighbouring river. In the garden I 
found a very beautiful orobanche growing para- 
sitically from the roots of the melon. 

June 9th. — Capt. Mackenzie paid us a visit. 
From him we learned positively that the Sirdar 
sprung a mine under one of the towers of the 
Bala Hissar, near the Shah Bazar, on the 6th ; 
that the storming party was driven back with a 
loss of sixty men killed, and that much damage 
was done in the adjacent part of the town by 
the explosion. On the following day, Futty 
Jung, finding his people disinclined to support 
him any longer, made terms with Mahomed 
Akber and the other chiefs, giving up a tower 
in the Balar Hissar to each, and himself retain- 
ing possession of the royal residence. Thus 
the citadel was now divided between the Doo- 
ranees, Barukzyes, Giljyes, and Kuzzilbashes, 
represented by Futty Jung, Mahomed Akber, 
Nuwab Zeman Khan, Mahomed Shah Khan, 
and Khan Shereen Khan. A curious arrange- 
ment, truly ! and calculated to facilitate the 
union of parties already jealous of each other, 
and each of whom had, doubtless, an eye to the 
rich treasure of money and jewels still in Futty 
Jung's- possession. The story of Ameenoolah 
Khan's seizure turned out to be untrue. There 
was a violent quarrel a few days back between 
the two old Nuwabs, Zeman Khan and Jubbar 
Khan, when the former seized hold of the lat- 
ter's beard exclaiming, "You are the fellow 
who first brought the Feringhees into the coun- 
try, and to whom, therefore, all our troubles 
may be attributed." Abdool Glujas Khan, the 
son of Jubbar Khan, being present, drew a pis- 
tol and threatened to shoot Zeman Khan for the 
indignity offered to his father. Mahomed Ak- 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



73 



ber sat by the whole time, laughing heartily at 
the scene. 

June 10th. — A smart shock of earthquake 
during the night. 

June \.lth. — Capt. Mackenzie returned to the 
city. It was supposed he would start in a day 
or two on a fresh mission to Jellalabad; , 

June 20lh. — Heard from Capt. Mackenzie 
that Mahomed Akber was waging war with 
Nuwab Zeman Khan ; also that Gen. Nott had 
seized the person of Sufter Jung, the rebel son 
of Shah Shooja-ool-moolk. Ali Mahomed as- 
sured us that it was the Sirdar's intention 
shortly to march to Jellalabad, to pay his re- 
spects to Gen. Pollock ! From other quarters 
we heard that he meditated carrying us all off 
to the banks of the Oxus. 

June 21st. — We were told by Ali-Mahomed 
that the Sirdar had taken Nuwab Zeman Khan 
and his two sons prisoners, and, after seizing 
all his guns, treasure, and ammunition, had re- 
leased them again. 

June 2oth. — Capts. Mackenzie and Troup 
paid us a visit. Mahomed Akber's late success- 
ful conflict with Nuwab Zeman Khan had ren- 
dered him, for the time being, supreme in Ca- 
bul. The Kuzzilbashes had tendered their 
unwilling submission, and had delivered up 
Mohun Loll, who was immediately put to the 
torture. Jan Fishan Khan, the laird of Purgh- 
man, a staunch friend of the British, had been 
obliged to fly for his life, his two sons having 
been slain in the fight. Khoda Bux Khan, and 
Atta Mahomed Khan, Giljyes, fought against 
Mahomed Akber on this occasion. Both Capt. 
Troup and Capt. Mackenzie had since been 
allowed to visit the hostages, whom they found 
in the house of the Meer Wyze, the chief 
moollah of the city, to whose protection they 
had been committed by Zeman Khan, in conse- 
quence of the desperate efforts of the Ghazees 
to slay them. During their stay in the good 
Nuwab's house, their lives were in constant 
danger from those fanatics, who on one occasion 
actually forced their way into the building to 
accomplish their purpose, and were only hin- 
dered by the Nuwab falling on his knees, cast- 
ing his turban on the ground, and entreating 
them not to dishonour his roof by committing 
violence to those under its protection. Before 
sending them to the Meei) Wyze, which was 
done at night, he took the precaution to line the 
streets with his own followers, with strict orders 
to fire upon every one who should so much as 
poke his head out of a window ; and he not only 
accompanied them himself, but sent his own 
family on ahead. Capt. ConoUy had obtained 
convincing proof that Shah Shoojah originated 
the rebellion with a view to get rid of Burnes, 
whom he detested, and of several chiefs, whom 
he hoped to see fall a sacrifice to our ven- 
geance ; little anticipating the ruinous result to 
himself and to us. Poor Burnes had made but 
few friends among the chiefs, who now never 
mention his name but in terms of the bitterest 
hatred and scorn. He seems to have kept too 

10 



much aloof from them; thus they had no oppor- 
tunity of appreciating his many valuable quali- 
ties, and saw in him only the traveller, who had 
come to spy the nakedness of the land, in order 
that he might betray it to his countrymen. The 
King considered him as a personal enemy, and 
dreaded his probable succession to the post of 
Envoy on the departure of Sir W. Macnaghten. 

Of Mahomed Akber Khan, I have been told 
from an authentic source that, on the morning 
of the departure of the army from Cabul on the 
6th of January, he and Sultan Jan made their 
appearance booted and spurred before the assem- 
bly of chiefs, and being asked by Nuwab Zemaa 
Shah where they were going, Mahomed Akber 
replied, " I am going to slay all the Feringhee 
dogs, to be sure." Again : on the passage of 
our troops through the Khoord-Cabul pass on the 
8th, he followed with some chiefs in the rear^ 
and in the same breath called to the Giljyes in 
Persian to desist from, and in Pushtoo to con- 
tinue, tiring. This explains the whole m^ystery 
of the massacre, and clears up every doubt re- 
garding Mahomed Akber's treachery. 

June 21th. — To our surprise, the European 
soldiers whom we left in the fort at Buddeeabad, 
and whom we believed to have been ransomed, 
made their appearance. They all agreed in 
stating that they had been ill-treated and starved 
ever since our departure, which they mainly 
attributed to the evil influence of their own 
countrywoman, Mrs. Wade, who had disgraced 
her country and religion by turning Mahome- 
dan, and, having forsaken ber husband, had 
become the concubine of an Aflfghan in Ma- 
homed Shah Khan's service, and had taken 
every occasion ta excite prejudice and hostility 
against the English captives, who were plun- 
dered of the litlle money and the few clothes 
they possessed, and exposed to continual insulfe 
and savage threats. She actually was so base 
as to betray her own husband, in whose booS 
two pieces of gold had been sewn up with hes 
own hands, of which he was deprived at her 
suggestion. On their arrival at Cabul, she had 
gone off to Mahomed Shah Khan's fort, taking 
with her a little orphan child named Siaker, of 
which she had charge. 

June 28th. — Capt. Mackenzie having been 
taken ill, Capt. Troup returned to the city 
without him.- The Sirdar, we learned, had 
made preparation for a flight to Bameean, in 
anticipation of the advance of our troops; 
whither, of course, the prisoners would accom- 
pany him. His ultimate place of refuge, it was 
supposed, Would be Herat. 

June 29th. — A shock of earthquake. Capt. 
Troup came to see us again before starting to 
Jellalabad on a mission from the Sirdar. Futty 
Jung was this day proclaimed king by Ma- 
homed Akber, who contented himself for the 
present with the title of wuzeer. Capt. Mac* 
kenzie still very ill. * * * * 



74 



ROUGH NOTES DURING 



The Author's autograph manuscript breaks 
off here ; but, as there remain still to be noted 
the events of three months, including those 
critical movements by which Mahomed Akber's 
captives were so nearly hurried beyond the 
hope of freedom, it is hoped that he will yet 
tell, in his own words, the remainder of the 
tale. In the mean time his private letters will 
make the conclusion less abrupt. 

— " Our real foe is Mahomed Shah Khan, but 
for whose baneful influence the Sirdar would 
have released the ladies long ago. The latter 
has many good points, and, but for one act, 
would be more worthy of clemency than the 
chiefs at whose instigation he did every thing, 
and who would fain make him their scape- 
goat." * * * * 

" July 29th. — We have had a good deal of 
sickness amongst us, and Mackenzie had a nar- 
row escape of his life from a malignant fever. 
All the invalids are, however, recovering, thank 
God I I fear, however, that our prospects are 
blacker than ever. We had hopes, a few days 
ago, that a fair exchange would be agreed upon 
between Mahomed Akber and Gen. Pollock, of 
the Ameer and all the other Affghan prisoners 
for us poor wretches. But the General has 
since received instructions to advance on Ca- 
bul; and Mahomed Akber declared to-day to 
Troup, with an expression of savage determina- 
tion in his countenance, that so surely as Pol- 
lock advances, he will take us all into Toorkis- 
tan, and make presents of us to the different 
chiefs. And depend upon it he will carry his 
threats into execution, for he is not a man to be 
trifled with." * * * * 

The public are aware how well Mahomed 
Akber would have kept this pleasant promise ; 
but the next and last communication is from 
Cabul, announcing the happy deliverance of the 
whole party, whose varied fortunes have for 
the last twelve months excited such universal 
interest. 

"Camp, Cabul, 22d Sept. 1842. 
" Cabul, Sept. 22d. — Heaven be praised ! we 
are once more free. Our deliverance was ef- 
fected on the 20th, and we arrived safe in Gen. 
Pollock's camp yesterday evening. On the 25th 
of August we were hurried off towards Toor- 
Mstan, and reached Bameean on the 3d of Sep- 
tember, every indignity being heaped upon us 
by the way. There we awaited fresh orders 
from Mahomed Akber. Meanwhile Pollock's 
army advanced on Cabul, carrying all before 
them. About the 10th of September an order 
came to carry us off to Koorloom, and to butcher 
all the sick, and those for whom there was no 
conveyance. Fortunately discontent prevailed 
among the soldiers of our guard, and their com- 
mandant began to intrigue with Major Pottin- 
ger for our release. A large reward was held 
out to him, and he swallowed the bait. The 
Huzarah chiefs were gained over ; and on the 
16th we commenced our return towards Cabul, 
expecting to encounter the defeated and now 



furious Akber on the way. On the ITth we 
were reinforced by Sir R, Shakespeare who had 
ridden out from Cabul with 600 Kuzzilbash, 
horsemen to our assistance. His aid was most 
timely; for Sultan Mahomed Khan, with 1000: 
men, was hastening to intercept us. On the 
20th, after forced marches, we met a brigade of 
our troops, and our deliverance was complete." 



list of prisoners released on general 
pollock's arrival at cabul. 

Major-Gen. Shelton, Her Majesty's 44th foot. 
Lieut.-Col. Palmer,*27th Bengal native infantry. 
Major Griffiths, 37th Bengal native infantry. 
Capt. Troup, Shah's service.. 

— Anderson, ditto. 

— Bygrave, paymaster. 

— Boyd, commissariat. 

— Johnson, ditto S. S. F., 26th native in- 

fantry. 

— Burnett, 54th native infantry. 

— Souter, Her Majesty's 44th foot. 

— Waller, Bengal horse artillery. 

— Alston,* 27th native infantry. 

— Poett,* ditto. 

— Walsh, 52d Madras native infantry. 

— Drummond, 3d Bengal light cavalry. 
Lieut. Eyre, Bengal artillery. 

— Airey, Her Majesty's 3d buffs. 

— Warburton, Bengal artillery, S. S. F. 

— Webb, 38th Madras native infantry, S. S. F. 

— Crawford, Bengal 3d native infantry, 

S. S. F. 

— Mein, Her Majesty's 13th light infantry. 

— Harris,* 27th Bengal native infantry. 

— Melville, 54th Bengal native infantry. 

— Evans, Her Majesty's 44th foot. 
Ensign Haughton, 31st Bengal native infantry. 

— Williams, 37th Bengal native infantry. 

— Nicholson, ditto. 
Conductor Ryley, ordnance commissariat. 
Doctor Campbell. 

Surgeon Magrath. 

Assistant-Surgeon Berwick, left in charge. 
— Thomson. 



Lady Macnaghten. 

— Sale. 
Mrs. Trevor, 8 children. 

— Anderson, 3 ditto. 

— Sturt and 1 child. 

— Mainwaring, ditto. 

— Boyd, 3 children. 

— Eyre, 1 child. 

— Waller, 2 children. 

Conductor Ryley's wife, Mrs. Ryley, 3 children. 
Private Bourne's (13th light infantry) wife, 

Mrs. Bourne. 
Mrs. Wade, wife of Sergeant Wade. 

* Those marked thus * were of the Ghuznee gar- 
rison. 



IMPRISONMENT IN AFFGHANISTAN. 



■75 



Major Pottinger, Bombay artillery. 
Captain Lawrence, 11th light cavalry. 
— Mackenzie, 48th Madras native 
fan try. 

^'- ^f "''>; f'^ I not in the service. 
— Blewitt, do. 5 

HER majesty's 44th foot. 



Sergeant Wedlock. 

— Weir. 

— Fair. 
Corporal Sumpter. 

— Bevan. 
Drummer Higgins. 

— Love 11. 

— Branagan. 
Private Burns. 

— Cresham. 

— Cronin. 

— Driscoll. 

— Deroney. 

— Duffy. 

— Matthews. 

— M'Dade. 

— Matron. 



Private M'Carthy. 

— M'Cabe. 

— Nowlan. 

— Robson. 

— Seyburne. 

— Shean. 

— Tongue. 

— Wilson. 

— Durant. 

— Arch. 

— Stott. 

— Moore. 

— Miller. 

— Murphy. 

— Marshall. 

— Cox. 

— Robinson. 



Private Brady. 
— M'Glyn. 



Boys Grier. 
— Mil wood. 



HER majesty's 13tH LIGHT INFANTRY. 

Private Binding. Private Maccullar. 

— Murray. — M'Connell. 

— Magary. — Cuff. 

— Monks. 

BENGAL HORSE ARTILLERY. 



Sergeant M'Nee. 

— Cleland. 
Gunner A. Hearn. 

— Keane, 

(Signed) 



Gunner Dalton. 

Sergeant Wade, bag- 
gage-sergeant to the 
Cabul mission. 



G. PONSONBY, Captain, 

Assistant- Ad j u tan t-General. 
(True copy.) (Signed) R. C. Shakespeare, 

Military Secretary. 
(True copies.) (Signed) T. H. Maddock, 

Secretary to the Government of India 
with the Governor-General. 

(True CQpies.) J. P. Willouohby, 

.Secretary to the Government, 



APPENDIX. 



MST OF CIVIL AND MILITARY OFFICERS KILLED DURING THE REBELLION, AT ANB 

NEAR CABUL, 



Between 12th October, 1841, mtd &h January, 1842, the day of leaving CabuL 



Political. 
Sir W. H. Macnaghten, Bart. 
Sir Alexander Burnes - 
Capt. Broadfoot, 1st Eng. Regt. 
Lieut. Burnes, Bombay Infty. - 
Lieut. Rattray ... 

H. M. 4Ath. 
Lieut. CoL Mackerell - 
Capt. Swayne - - - 
Capt. M'Crea 

Capt. Robinson - - . 
Lieut. Raban - - - 

5f/j K I. 
Lieut. Col. Oliver - - - 
Capt. Mackintosh - - - 

27th N. L 
Capt. Westmacott - - - 
Ensign Gordon . . - 

B5th N. L 
Lieut. Jenkins - - - 
Capt. Wyndham - - - 

H. M. Idth Light Infantry. 
Lieut. King - - - - 

Local Horse. 
Capt. Walker, 1st N. I. - ^ - 

27th K L 
Lieut. Laing - - - - 

Shah^s Service. 
Capt. Woodburn, 44th N. I. - 
Capt. Codrington, 49th N. L - 
Ensign Salisbury, 1st V. Regt. 
Ensign Rose, 54th N. L - 
Doctor Grant, Bombay Estab. - 
Lieut. Maule, Artillery - 
Capt. Trevor, 3d Light Cav. - 
Local Lieut. Wheeler - 



Murdered at a conference en - - - 

" in his own house in the city on 

" in Sir A. B.'s house in the city on 
(t (( <( 

" at a conference at Lughmanee in 
Kohistan . . - - - 



23d Dec. 
2d Nov. 
2d " 
2d " 

8d « 



Killed in action at Cabul 



" at Khoord-Cabul 

" at JugduUuk 

" at Tezeen 

« at Cabul - 



- 10th Nov. 

- 4th " 

- 10th " 

- 4th " 

- 6th " 

- 23d Nov, 

- 23d » 

- 10th Nov. 

- 4th " 

- 12th Oct. 

- 12lh « 



12th Oct. 
23d Nov. 
23d Nov. 



" at Chareeker 



in his camp at Kahdarrah ' 

at a conference 

in his 'camp at Kahdarrah 



23d Nov. 
23d " 
23d " 
23d " 
23d " 

3d " 
23d Dec. 

3d Nov. 



78 



APPENDIX. 



From 6th January up to the 12th January 1842 inclusive' onihe retreat. 



Staff. 
Dr. Duff, Superin.-Surgeon 
Capt. Skinner, 61st N. I. 
Capt. Paton,* 58th N. I. 
'Lieut. Sturt,* Engineers 

Horse Artillery. 
Dr. Bryce . - - 

5fA Light Cavalry. 
Lieut. Hardyman - 

H. M.Am. 
Major Scott - 
Capt. Leighton 
Lieut. White 
Lieut. Fortye* 

5th N. 1. 

Major Swayne* 
Capt. Miles - 
Lieut. Deas* - 
Lieut. Alexander - 
Lieut. Warren 

5Aih N. 1. 
Major Ewert - - - 
Capt. Shaw* - 
Lieut. Kirby - - - 

S7thN.i[. 
Lieut. St. George - 

H. M. 44:th. 
Lieut. Wade - - - 

27th N. I. 
Dr. Cardew* ... 



Killed between Tezeen and Seh Baba 
" at JugduUuk . - - 
" at Khoord-Cabul pass 



" on march to Tezeen - 



" outside the cantonment 



" on march to Tezeen - 



" Junga Fareekee 
" Jugdulluk 

" at Junga Fareekee 



" oh march' to Tezeen 

" Khoord-Cabul :Pass 

" Jugdulluk 

" Tezeen - 



10th Jan. 
r2th " 

8th " 
8th " 



aOth Jan. 
•6th. Jan. 



10th Jan. 
10th " 
10th » 
10th " 



10th Jan. 
10th " 
10th " 
10th " 
10th " 



10th Jan. 
10th « 
10th " 



8th Jan. 
12th Jan. 
10th Jan. 



After leaving Jugdulluk on the 12th to the final massacre. 

Staff. 

Major Thain* H. M. 21st Ft. a. d. c. Jugdulluk Pass - 12th Jan. 

Capt. Bellew, 56th N. L - - Futtehabad 13th " 

Capt. Grant, 27th N. L - . - Gundamuk - 13th " 

Capt. Mackay, Assist. P. M.f - - Doubtful. 

Horse Artillery. 

Capt. Nicholl .... Jugdulluk Pass - 12th Jan. 

Lieut. Stewart - - . - Gundamuk 13th " 

bth Light Cavalry. 

Lieut.-Col. Chambers ... Jugdulluk Pass ------ 12th Jan. 

Capt. Blair " 12th " 

Capt. Bott " 12th " 

Capt. Hamilton . - - - Gundamuk 13th " 

Capt. Collyer . - - . Near Jellalabad 14th " 

Lieut. Bazett Jugdulluk Pass 12th *' 

Dr. Harpur - - - - - Near Jellalabad 14th " 

Veterinary Surgeon Willis - - Doubtful. 

* These officers had been previously wounded at Cabul. Captain Paton's left arm had been amputated. 
_t Capt. Mackay, Assist. P. M. Shah's StafF, being mentioned in the text twice (pp. 51, 52.), I insert 
his name thus. It is not in the original list. — Editor. 



APPENDIX. 



79 



H. M. Utk. 

Capt. Dodgin 
Capt. Collins - - - 
Lieut. Hogg -. 
Lieut. Cumberland 
Lieut. Cadett 
Lieut, Swinton 
Ensign Gray - 
Paymaster Bourke- 
Qr.-Master Halaban*- -. 
Surgeon Harcourt - 
Assist. Surgeon Balfour - 
Assist, Surgeon Primrose 





5th N. I. 


Capt. 


Haig - 


Lieut, 


, Horsbrough - 


Lieut, 


. Tombs 


Ensign Potenger - 


Lieut, 


. Burkinyoung 


Dr. Metcalfe - 




37th N. 1. 


Capt. 


Rind - 


Lieut. 


, Steer - 


Lieut. 


Vanrenen - 


Lieut. 


Hawtrey 


Lieut. 


Carlyon 




Mth N. L. 


Capt, 


Anstruther - 


Capt. 


Corrie - - - 


Capt. 


Palmer 


, Lieut. 


Weaver 


'^ieut. 


Cunningham 


Lieut. 


Pottinger - 


Lieut. 


Morrison 




H. M. ISth Lt. Inf.. 


Major 


Kershaw 


Lieut, 


Hobhouse - 




Shakes Service. 


Brigac 


lier Anquetil 


Capt, Hay, 35th N, I, - 


Capt. Hopkins, 27th N. J. 


Capt. 


Marshall, 61st N, L 


Lieut. 


Le Geyt, Bombay Cav. 


Lieut. 


Green, Artillery - 


Lieut. 


Bird, Madras Estab. 


Lieut. 


Macartney - 



JugduUuk Pass 12th 

Gundamuk ------. 13th 

13th 

13th 

Soorkab - - - - - - - 12th 

Gundamuk -----.- 13th 

Doubtful. 

JugduUuk 12th 

JugduUuk Pass 12th 

12th 

Doubtful. 

Gundamuk ------- I3th 



Jan. 



Doubtful. 

Gundamuk 

Doubtful. 



13th Jan. 



Gundamuk - 13th Jan. 

Gundamuk ------- 13th Jan. 

JugduUuk Pass 12th " 

Near Soorkab -, 12th " 

Gundamuk ---.-.--- 13th " 
Doubtful. 



Doubtful. 



Gundamuk - ---,,-- 13th Jan. 

------- 13th " 

Neemla 13th " 

Gundamuk ------- 13th " 

Doubtful. 

Gundamuk - - 13th Jan, 

JugduUuk Pass .---.. 12th Jan. 

Gundamuk ------- 13th " 

Near JellaJabad 13th " 

JugduUuk Pass 12th " 

Neemla 13th " 

Gundamuk ------- 13th " 

Futtehabad 13th " 

Gundamuk 13lh " 



Political. 
Major Pottinger, C. B. - 
Capt. Lawrence, 
Capt. Mackenzie, Madras Estab. 

Stqf. 
Major-Gen, Elphinstone, C, B. 

Brigadier Shelton. 



LIST OF OFFICERS SAVED OF THE CABUL FORCE. 

In imprisonment in Affghanistan. 

Wounded at Charekar on - 

" in action at Cabul on - 



" on retreat at JugduUuk 
(Died at Tezeen on April 23d.) 



6th Nov. 
23d " 

12th Jan. 



This officer had been previously wounded at Cabul, 



80 

Capt, Boyd, At, Cy. GI. 
Lieut. Eyre, Arty. D. C. O. 

Horse Artillery. 
Lieut. Waller . . - - 

H. M. 44iA. 
Capt. Souter 

H. M. nth. 
Lieut. Mein - - - - ■ 

^Ith N. I. 
Major Griffiths - . - ■ 
Dr. Magrath. 

Shah's Service. 
Capt. Troup - - - - ■ 
Capt. Johnson. 
Capt. Anderson, 

Paymaster. 
Capt, Bygrave - - - ■ 

Mr. Ryley, conductor of Ordnance. 

54:th N. I. 
Lieut. Melville. 

Shah''s Service. 
Dr. Brydon . - - - 



APPENDIX. 
Wounded in action at Cabul - . - 

** on retreat at Gundamuk 

" in action under General Sale at 
Khoord-Cabul Pass . - - 

„ on retreat in Khoord-Cabul Pass - 



22d Nov. 
4th Nov- 
13th Janj 

Oci 

8th Jar 

8th Jaj 



The toes of one foot nipped ofiF by frost on re- 
treat. 



" on retreat near Huft Kotul 
Escaped to Jellalabad. 



IGtb Jar 



THE ENB. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proce; 
Neutralizing agent: IVlagnesiunn Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan. 2003 

PreservationTechnologii 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATII 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranhfirrv Townshio. PA 1 6065 









::nAr^< 



v^Cf-nonA, 






"'^y/\'/^X' . 









* '•^'^ r\Aikfk' 0k - ^^ ^^^^>^^ 



^s«a«««R;?c; 



I'^Aflft, 



5M»^tef/:ilWr*jrW 



mftft^^^^^f>^^nmA?s^or- 






^HSA^ 






^^^^"^?^^^%^^^^ 






^^r\f\f^r\f 



■ xc^^.-C/>'-n; 



^uJAJAMttftLnULBBtti 












^W-^SSas 



0mmmrr^^ 









mkblJCUHraS 



J,/-\r -: ' ' vv 1/-,^ 



r^^v^r^■C^<' 



MfftfY^^ft^^^^ 



/^^f^.^f^'Ad^^^ 



■- ^X^'MnWinRR' inpiQAAA^ 






AAAnA^A,' .^' 









'^-^^QR^^. 












■•';.'^cnf*«HV' 






.^oSOn.nA 






^fl^^fl^^w^aa^^ 



/^Ar^A^ 



n/^AA^r^.^A 






^,.^^a6^ 



, r : I w i; II 









>, :,- >A^^^^ aa/^/^aaPaa^'^'^^^^ 
^ ^^/^r,-,^- ^--,,^AAr^,^ '^^ _ A^/^^ , --. ,. 



:::^S5j9? 



^«8R;s,«««r* 









■*.A^M^Wf??^' 



.r^^^/*^/" 



